•     Holding Canadian authorities responsible for failing to provide “adequate security” to Indian diplomats and consular staff, India said it was cancelling a number of consular camps it had planned to help citizens of Indian origin with their documentation requirements.
  •     The decision comes days after violent clashes broke out between pro-Khalistani groups that targeted a temple complex and the Indian-origin community at a consular camp organised by Indian diplomats in the Canadian city of Brampton. The incident, which has led to a further escalation of tensions between India and Canada, was condemned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called the “cowardly attempts” to intimidate Indian diplomats “appalling” and slammed the attack on the Hindu Sabha Temple.
  •     “In view of the security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection to the community camp organisers, Consulate has decided to cancel some of the scheduled consular camps,” said a social media post by the Indian Consulate in Toronto.
  •     The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said consular camps in other cities, including one in Vancouver, would go ahead as scheduled, but that despite specific requests from the Indian High Commission and consulates in Canada, some of the camps, mainly in the Toronto area were not provided adequate security. The Indian consulate also shared visuals of two camps at a Sikh Centre and Hindu temple in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where over 600 certificates were processed.
  •     The Canadian High Commission did not respond to the latest charges by the Ministry, that follow a rapid deterioration in bilateral relations, including the expulsion of each other’s diplomats and the decision by India to bring back its High Commission to Canada, over allegations by the Canadian government of involvement of the Indian government including Home Minister Amit Shah in the killing of a Khalistani activist in Brampton last year.
  •     Local Peel Region Police issued a statement that they are filing criminal charges against persons responsible for the violence after clashes at the temple premises “escalated well beyond what was acceptable”.

While Indo-Canadians or Canadians of Indian origin number 1.86 million or about 5% of the Canadian population overall, the numbers in Brampton are much larger, with about 180,000 people identifying as Indian-origin, representing about 28% of the city’s population.