Canadian Speaker to skip P20 meet; MEA firm on cut in diplomatic staff

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12

Speaker of the Canadian Senate Raymonde Gagne is set to skip the meeting of presiding officers of G20 national parliaments that started in the Capital on Thursday.

Lok Sabha sources said Gagne had earlier confirmed her presence at the Parliament 20 Summit, but had now decided to give it a miss.

Spate of robberies in Canada temples

There has been a rise in break-ins at temples in Ontario where Khalistani separatists are active. Police are looking for a suspect as three temples were broken into in Pickering and as many in Greater Toronto Area.

The development comes amid the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada.

“The Canadian Speaker is not attending the summit. Schedules keep changing,” the sources said today.

India and Canada have been involved in a diplomatic row ever since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linked Indian agents to the killing of pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in June. India had rejected the allegations, saying this was not its policy.

Meanwhile, India on Thursday said it was firm on achieving a reduction in the Canadian diplomatic strength in the country while dismissing Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s mention of India in recent bilateral meetings with world leaders as unhelpful to the core issue of Ottawa giving space to anti-India criminals and terrorists.

“We remain committed to what we said, ensuring parity. We remain engaged on the modalities for achieving that. When there are specific details to share, we shall do so,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi at a media briefing here on Thursday.

“We would urge Canada to take more seriously the international obligation to provide security to our diplomats and premises,” said Bagchi while dismissing Canada’s claim that India’s call to pare the strength of its diplomatic complement in India was against Vienna Convention regulations.

The MEA spokesperson was responding to Canadian media reports that said Ottawa did not comply with India’s reported deadline of October 10 to cut its diplomatic strength by two-thirds to achieve parity with the Indian diplomatic staff size in Canada.

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