India may allow Canada to restore diplomatic staff amid thaw in ties
India plans to allow Canada to restore its diplomatic presence to pre-2024 levels, following a diplomatic dispute over a separatist's killing.
India will gradually allow Canada to post a “similar number” of diplomats and officials in the country as it had before October 2024, when the two countries carried out tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats amid the diplomatic row over the killing of a Khalistani separatist in 2023, a senior Indian government official familiar with the matter said.
The official said the process to enhance Canadian diplomatic staffing will begin as soon as New Delhi receives the proposed names of those to be posted. This has been agreed to during Canadian minister of foreign affairs Anita Anand’s visit to India earlier this month, the official added.
In October last year, 41 Canadian diplomats left India after New Delhi said their diplomatic immunity would be stripped and sought parity in diplomatic presence. India had 21 diplomats in Canada and prior to the downsizing, while Canada had 62. However, officials said, the Canadian numbers could rise substantially in the months ahead, if Ottawa simplifies the process for accreditation of Indian diplomats.
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The official said that India is seeking “reciprocity” in staffing, but not necessarily “parity”, explaining that while Canada required certain officials, India was not in favour of a large number of Canadian immigration officials.
The official added that the number of diplomats “will be a similar number to what was there before”.
Before her departure from India, Anand spoke to Canadian media via videoconference, affirming that “staffing up” the diplomatic missions had been on the agenda. “I can assure you that we are building back to a complement of Canadian diplomats across the country. In terms of my conversations on this matter with (External Affairs) Minister (S) Jaishankar, we both agreed that we would staff up as we had been before in order to service our respective populations,” she had said.
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India-Canada relations went into free fall in 2023 after then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government agents were linked to the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.India dismissed the charge as “absurd” and both sides paused talks on a trade deal and downgraded diplomatic relations and expelled dozens of each other’s diplomats.
New Delhi withdrew its previous envoy to Ottawa, Sanjay Verma, with five other officials in October 2023 when Canadian authorities sought to question them in relation to the murder of Nijjar. In retaliation, India expelled six Canadian diplomats, including then acting high commissioner Stewart Wheeler.
However, since the change in Canadian leadership following Justin Trudeau’s departure, both countries have taken cautious steps toward resetting relations. The breakthrough came during a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit at Kananaskis in June this year. Anand’s visit marked another phase of engagement..
The official confirmed that New Delhi has invited PM Carney to attend the Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit in February. If he cannot make the event, the government hopes to host him in India within the first four months of 2026.
Speaking at the University of Ottawa on October 22, Carney emphasised the reset in relations. “We’re re-engaging with global giants, India and China. That’s part of the strategy to reduce dependence on America, as he said his Government’s “goal is to double our non-US exports over the course of the next decade,” he had said
Further interactions between India and Canada are expected ahead of the summit, with potential meetings at multilateral events later this year and ongoing ministerial-level talks.
