Canadian Foreign Minister hints at possibility of sanctions against India after expulsion of diplomats

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Tuesday hinted at the possibility of sanctions against India in response to the diplomatic row stemming from Canada's allegations that India was involved in the killing of a pro-Khalistani leader. Tensions escalated between the two countries after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of supporting criminal activities targeting Canadian citizens.

In response to a question whether the country is looking to impose sanctions on India, the Foreign Minister stated that expelling diplomats was one of the toughest measures that a country could take under the Vienna Convention.

"For the rest, we will continue to push India to make sure they cooperate. We will continue to engage with our five eyes partners. We will also continue to engage with the G7 partners. Everything is on the table," she said.

"We don't want diplomatic confrontation with India. We know that thousands of Canadians go to India every year. We have lots of people from India coming to Canada as well. So we know that there are deep people-to-people ties, and want to make sure that these are still possible," Joly said at the press conference alongside Trudeau.

Joly added that we continue to ask that the Indian government support the ongoing investigation in the Nijjar case, as it remains in both our countries' interests to get to the bottom of this.

At the same press conference, Trudeau said: "India has made a monumental mistake by choosing to use their diplomats and organised crime to attack Canadians, to make them feel unsafe here at (their) home, and even more, to create acts of violence and even murder. It's unacceptable."