Canada withdraws 41 diplomats from India
Toronto (PTI): Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats and their family members from India after it threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunity, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has said, amid a diplomatic row over the killing of a Sikh separatist.
Tensions flared between India and Canada last month following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated".
"I can confirm that India has formally conveyed its plan to unilaterally remove diplomatic immunities for all but 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents in Delhi by tomorrow, October 20," Joly said on Thursday.
Canada will be pausing all in-person services at the consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru and is now directing all Canadians in India to the High Commission in New Delhi.
Joly said that in their "unreasonable" request for diplomatic parity, India would only allow 21 diplomats and their families to maintain their diplomatic status, putting the others at risk of having their protections stripped arbitrarily, leaving them vulnerable to reprisal or arrest.
"This means 41 Canadian diplomats and their 42 dependents were in danger of having immunity stripped on an arbitrary date, and this would put their personal safety at risk," she said at a news conference in Ottawa.
"The safety of Canadians and of our diplomats is always my top concern. Given the implications of India's actions on the safety of our diplomats, we have facilitated their safe departure from India," Joly said. "This means that our diplomats and their families have now left."
Last month, India asked Canada to downsize its diplomatic staff in the country, arguing that there should be parity in strength and rank equivalence in the mutual diplomatic presence. The size of Canadian diplomatic staff in India is larger than what New Delhi has in Canada.
Calling India's action "contrary to international law," and in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Joly accused India of escalating the bilateral tensions, but Canada will not be reciprocating.
"There is a fundamental principle of diplomacy, and this is a two-way street. It only works if every country abides by the rules," she said.
"A unilateral revocation of diplomatic privileges and immunities is contrary to international law," Joly said. "Threatening to do so is unreasonable and escalatory. If we allow the norm of diplomatic immunity to be broken, no diplomats anywhere would be safe."
"So for this reason, we will not reciprocate," she added.
"Let me be clear, Canada will continue to defend international law, which applies to all nations and will continue to engage with India. Now more than ever, we need diplomats on the ground, and we need to talk to one another," Joly said.
Joly announced the development "on the situation with India" alongside Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller, who announced the shrinking of Canada's footprint to one-third of what it was, will impact the level of service delivery Canada will be able to provide in India.
"Remaining staff will continue to focus on the work that can't be moved out of the country, such as urgent cases, visa printing, and working with visa application centres," Miller said, noting that Canada's 10 visa application centres are operated by third-party contractors and will not be impacted.
Those left are considered core staff, who will remain focused on the current challenging diplomatic situation, as well as trade and business files, according to officials who briefed reporters on a not-for-attribution basis on Thursday evening.
Commercial programming for businesses will continue, but at reduced capacity, and Canada continues to employ locally engaged staff.
Miller noted that in 2022, India was the top country for permanent residents, temporary foreign workers, and international students in Canada, and so the federal government recognises the impacts that will be felt.
"I want to reassure our clients in India and Canadians who have family and friends in India that Canada will continue to accept and process all temporary and permanent resident applications from India," he said, adding that it may just take longer.
The remarks by the ministers come after Prime Minister Trudeau was asked on Thursday for a status update on the Indian government giving Ottawa an October 10 deadline to significantly reduce its diplomatic footprint.
As CTV News reported at the time, Canada was asked to see dozens of diplomats depart, to put the contingent of officials in India on par with the number of Indian diplomats in Canada. Sources said then, that Canada had already evacuated a majority of the Canadian diplomats working in India outside of Delhi to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Trudeau did not directly answer the question, saying instead that Joly would have more to say later.
"We have been continually engaged in diplomacy and in dialogue with the Indian government," Trudeau said. "This is a serious matter that we are taking extremely seriously."
Earlier, Trudeau had said that Canada shared with India "many weeks ago" evidence that it may have been behind the killing of Nijjar on Canadian soil and wants New Delhi to commit constructively with Ottawa to establish the facts in the "very serious matter." Trudeau, however, did not elaborate on the evidence that he says has been shared with India.
Pressed for more details on whether Canada has provided India evidence to back Canada's claims and how it reached its conclusions regarding the potential link to the extrajudicial killing, Joly in the past too was unspecific beyond stating the two countries had various meetings and information was shared, leading up to Trudeau's House of Commons declaration.
Joly also restated Trudeau's calls for India to cooperate in the ongoing probe, noting federal law enforcement agencies in Canada "are working actively."
India has asked Canada to come down hard on terrorists and anti-India elements operating from its soil and suspended visa services for Canadians.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told journalists in Washington last month that the governments of India and Canada will have to talk to each other and see how they resolve their differences over the issue and underlined that but the larger issue of the Canadian government's "permissiveness" to terrorism, extremism and violence must be flagged and addressed.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
