India has asked to recall over 40 of its diplomats from India, according to a
report from the Financial Times. New Delhi has set a deadline of October 10 for the
repatriation, as informed by sources familiar with the matter.
Canada has 62 diplomats in India and earlier India had said that the total should be
reduced by 41, the newspaper said.
Earlier, India had asked Canada to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country as
relations between the two countries plunged to an all-time low following Ottawa’s
allegations against New Delhi over the killing of a Khalistani separatist on Canadian
soil

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said the size of
Canadian diplomatic staff in India is larger than what New Delhi has in Canada and
that there should be a parity in strength and rank equivalence in the mutual presence

India-Canada ties have hit rock bottom following Canadian suspicion that Indian
government agents had a role in the June murder in Canada of a Sikh separatist
leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom India had labeled a “terrorist”.
India has dismissed the allegation as absurd. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said earlier
there was a “climate of violence” and an “atmosphere of intimidation” against Indian
diplomats in Canada.