Amid India-Canada tensions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has again accused India of violating the Vienna Convention and said Canada will always stand up for the rule of law. Trudeau also added if bigger countries can violate law without consequences then it makes the international relations “more dangerous”.
Trudeau reiterated that Canada has serious reasons to believe that agents of the government of India could have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.
"India's response is to kick out a whole bunch of Canadian diplomats by violating their rights under the Vienna Convention," said Trudeau.
"We have been very clear that we want to work constructively with India on this very serious matter. From the very beginning, we shared the real allegations that we are deeply concerned...but we have reached out to the Indian government and to partners around the world to get to the bottom of this, to take it seriously. That's why we were so disappointed when India violated the Vienna Convention and arbitrarily revoked the diplomatic immunity of over 40 Canadian diplomats in India," said Trudeau.
Trudeau's response comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged India to cooperate with Canada's investigation on Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing. During the '2+2' ministerial meet, Blinken held meeting with EAM S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.
India's violation of Vienna Convention is a "concern to countries around the world", said Trudeau.
“That is of concern to countries around the world because if a given country can just decide that their diplomats of another country are no longer protected, that makes international relations more dangerous and more serious,” added Trudeau.
Trudeau also said they have tried to work constructively and positively with India and will continue to do so. “This is not a fight we want to be having right now but we will unequivocally always stand up for the rule of law,” said Trudeau.
India-Canada tensions began when Trudeau accused India's role behind Nijjar's killing in June. After the allegation, India has announced that it is temporarily suspending the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in India.
