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Informist, Monday, Mar. 2, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – India and Canada are working "step by step" to restore the size of their diplomatic teams in the other country to full strength, the external affairs ministry said Monday. Both New Delhi and Ottawa had expelled each other's diplomats and reduced the number of their diplomatic personnel posted in the other country following the row that erupted in the wake of the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and proponent of Khalistan, in Vancouver in June 2023.

 

"Yes, there is broad agreement that we should be increasing diplomatic strength on both sides progressively to reach their level in the past," P. Kumaran, secretary (east), in the ministry, said in response to a media query.

 

"We are already in the process of doing that. As you know, the high commissioners have returned to their positions," he said while briefing the media at the conclusion of the dialogue between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney.

 

"The numbers are currently at levels better than what we had in 2023, and we continue to take this to the next level," he added. "It is a continuous process. We will be going back to the normal strength in a step-by-step approach."

 

India again rejected allegations of any link to Nijjar's killing. "India categorically rejects allegations of involvement in transnational violence or organised crime," Kumaran said in response to a question. "These claims are baseless, politically motivated, and unsupported by credible evidence."

 

Monday, as Carney was visiting New Delhi, The Globe and Mail, a Canada-based publication, published a report linking an Indian intelligence officer with Nijjar's killing. The activist was gunned down in the parking lot of a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023.

 

"India believes that concerns of this nature must be addressed through credible law enforcement and judicial processes, not public or politicised narratives," the secretary (east) said.

 

He said a criminal investigation of the killing is continuing and India maintains its commitment to judicial processes. "Sensitive matters under judicial consideration are best allowed to proceed through established legal processes without public commentary," he said.

 

Kumaran also said senior officials from both sides, including the national security advisers, have been in constant touch over security-related issues.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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