Several Canadian diplomats relocate from India to Singapore and Malaysia:

Several Canadian diplomats relocate from India to Singapore and Malaysia:

New Delhi: 41 diplomats were estimated to have to leave, according to earlier reports, but the sources say the request is unique to one of parity.

Following a dispute over the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada gave Ottawa until October 10 to reduce its diplomatic staff to achieve parity in strength. According to a media report today, Canada has relocated the majority of its diplomats working in India outside of New Delhi to either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.

The report appeared in CTV News, a privately owned Canadian television network, after India requested earlier this week that Canada remove several dozen diplomats from its missions. The request came amid an escalating diplomatic dispute that started after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that Indian agents were responsible for the June murder of Nijjar.

In retaliation for Ottawa’s decision to dismiss an Indian official over the matter, India rejected the accusations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian ambassador.

The Indian government has given Ottawa until October 10 to reduce Canadian diplomatic staff in that country to a level on par with the number of Indian diplomats in Canada, CTV News quoted sources as saying.

Earlier reports pegged the number of diplomats that would have to leave at 41, but the sources CTV News spoke with said the ask is specific to one of parity.

“A majority of the Canadian diplomats working in India outside of New Delhi have been evacuated to either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore,” the report said.

Global Affairs Canada, the department that manages the country’s diplomatic and consular relations, had previously stated that “with some diplomats having received threats on various social media platforms,” it was “assessing its staff complement in India.”