The Indian government on Thursday underlined its commitment to ousting Canadian diplomats in its bid to ensure "parity".
In a regular press briefing, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “India remains committed to what we said that is ensuring parity in our diplomatic presence".
"We remain engaged with Canadian authorities on the modalities of achieving that", Bagchi stated, adding "when we have something specific to share, we will certainly do so”.
For the moment, he said, "let me just emphasize that we are engaged with the Canadian authorities to ensure the parity that we mentioned”.
Reacting to a question on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau having raised the matter with other leaders, Bagchi said: "I do not know really how this helps address the core issue. The core issue is the space given by Canada to terrorists and criminal elements”.
He said as regarding upholding international conventions “…we would urge Canada to take more seriously their international obligation to provide security to our diplomats and their premises".
The Indian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson said that everything India is doing "is in compliance with the Vienna conventions on diplomatic relations”.
In September, New Delhi asked Canada to withdraw 41 of its 62 diplomats in India by 10 October. The development came after Trudeau stated that there were “credible allegations” that India may have been linked to the murder of a Canadian Sikh activist near Vancouver in June. India has rejected the allegations and called on Canada to provide credible evidence.