India has asked Canada to repatriate about 41 diplomats from the country by within a week, according to a report.
New Delhi has set an October 10 deadline, said a report by The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter. The Indian government is yet to issue an official statement in this regard.
Diplomatic ties between both the countries have been strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in Surrey in Canada's British Columbia, on June 18. New Delhi rejected the allegations, calling them "absurd" and "motivated".
New Delhi also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in what is seen as a tit-for-tat move to expulsion of an Indian official over the case. A week before that, a senior official said in New Delhi that negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two nations will resume after resolving political issues.
Days before Trudeau's allegations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi snubbed his Canadian counterpart at the New Delhi G20 summit by allowing only a short meeting on the sidelines instead of a formal bilateral meeting.
