OTTAWA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India amid a dispute over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Thursday, adding that Ottawa would not take retaliatory steps.
Joly said India had threatened to unilaterally revoke the diplomats' official status by Friday unless they left.
"Given the implications of India's actions on the safety of our diplomats, we have facilitated their safe departure from India," she told a news conference.
"If we allow the norm of diplomatic immunity to be broken, no diplomats anywhere on the planet would be safe.
India has dismissed as absurd Trudeau's suspicions that its agents were linked to the murder of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen whom New Delhi had labeled a "terrorist."
Persons:
Melanie Joly, Joly, Justin Trudeau, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Nijjar, David Ljunggren, Leslie Adler, Jonathan Oatis
Organizations:
OTTAWA, Ottawa, Thomson
Locations:
Canada, India, Vienna, New Delhi, Ottawa, Vancouver suburb, Canadian