On Friday (20th October), amidst the escalating diplomatic tension between India and Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remarked that India’s move to revoke the diplomatic immunity of 41 Canadian diplomats constitutes a breach of the Vienna Convention. Justin Trudeau said that this is a matter that should concern all nations. Trudeau’s statement followed shortly after New Delhi dismissed Ottawa’s claim that the enforcement of parity amounted to a violation of global standards.
During a press conference in Brampton, Ontario, Justin Trudeau claimed that the Indian government’s actions were creating an “unbelievably difficult” situation, disrupting the normal lives of millions in both India and Canada. This, of course, does not make sense, just as most of what Trudeau says. He, as usual, provided no evidence to substantiate his figments of imagination – about the contravention of the Vienna convention or how India is making life difficult for millions in India and Canada.
‘India violated the Vienna Convention’: Justin Trudeau
Justin Trudeau said, “The actions that the government of India took this week are themselves contrary to international law. The government of India decided to unilaterally revoke the diplomatic immunity of 40 Canadian diplomats in India. This is a violation of the Vienna Convention governing diplomacy. This is, them choosing to contradict a fundamental principle of international law and diplomacy.” It is worth noting that he did not provide the section of the bylaw of the Vienna Convention that India had supposedly violated. This was another unsubstantiated allegation in the string of allegations that Trudeau has been making against India.
He added, “It is something that all countries in the world should be very worried about, and this is putting aside the allegations we made of a serious violation of international law with the alleged killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil that the Indian government could have been involved in. This is a matter putting that aside that all countries should be concerned about.”
Justin Trudeau further said, “The government of India decided to cancel and revoke the diplomatic protection of 40 diplomats working in India. This is something that has far-reaching consequences for the diplomatic world that I know many many countries are very worried about. But it also has very weird impacts on millions of people.”
Essentially, in his statement, Justin Trudeau said that he was ‘putting aside’ one lie that he peddled against India (of the killing of Nijjar) just so he could peddle an entirely different lie – both without providing any evidence.
The same allegations were levelled by Canada Foreign Minister Melanie Joly
Canada Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced on Thursday (19th October) that Canada has removed 41 diplomats and their 42 family members, from India over the ongoing row between the two countries.
She had said, “A unilateral revocation of diplomatic privilege and immunities is contrary to international law. It is a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and threatening to do so is unreasonable and escalatory. If we allow the norm of diplomatic immunity to be broken no diplomats anywhere on the planet would be safe.”
India has already rejected these accusations
On Friday (20th October), the Indian Ministry of External Affairs rejected the Canadian government’s claim that India violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by asking Canada to remove 41 diplomats.
In a statement, MEA made it clear, “We have seen the Statement by the Government of Canada on October 19 regarding Canadian diplomatic presence in India. The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa.”
“We have been engaged with the Canadian side on this over the last month In order to work out the details and modalities of its implementation…Our actions in implementing this parity are fully consistent with Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which states the following,” it further added.
What does the Vienna Convention say?
Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention says [pdf], “In the absence of specific agreement as to the size of the mission, the receiving State may require that the size of a mission be kept within limits considered by it to be reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the particular mission.”
“We reject any attempt to portray the Implementation of parity as a violation of International norms,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs clarified in its statement.
This is just another lie peddled by Justin Trudeau
On On 18th September, in a bizarre move, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blamed India for killing Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. This statement by Trudeau stretched the diplomatic relations between India and Canada. Justin Trudeau did not have any solid proof to back his claims. Furthermore, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said as a consequence of the allegations, the Canadian government expelled a top Indian diplomat.
A month after peddling this lie, Trudeau has asked the world community to “put it aside” while giving the recent statement. What Trudeau is peddling by putting aside the earlier lie is just another lie that India violated the Vienna Convention while revoking the diplomatic immunity of 41 Canadian diplomats.