No chance for ties to improve after Canada's diplomat surveillance: Expert

Foreign affairs expert Sushant Sareen expressed concerns regarding Canada's audio and video surveillance of Indian diplomats, condemning it as a breach of diplomatic traditions.

He also highlighted the deteriorating relationship between Canada and India and asserted that "there is no scope for improvement."

While speaking with ANI, Sareen said, "The action being taken by Canadian authorities against the Indian High Commission, is against diplomatic traditions... So far, we have been saying that Canada is not an issue for India, but the Canadian government is. But we are increasingly realising that relations between Canada's political system and India are deteriorating. And there is no scope for improvement." 

Sareen further said that the Indian government must think about its approach, as mere protests and warnings of severe consequences are ineffective. He said, "The traditional diplomacy that we were trying to do with Canada will not work now. The Indian government should now think about it. Just saying that we strongly protest this or there will be severe consequences will not work. If there are serious consequences, then show them. The conditions will deteriorate and will not become better. Our situation was not as bad with Pakistan as it is with Canada. Canada is taking all this action under the influence of America..."

Meanwhile, former diplomat Yash Sinha expressed his disappointment at the surveillance of consular agents from a country with representation in Canada, calling it a breach of diplomatic and councillor conventions.

He told ANI, "This is truly astonishing and it is quite bizarre. For consular agents of a country with representation in another country, to be subjective to this sort of surveillance is in contravention of the relevant conventions, diplomatic and councillor conventions. I can't imagine a civilised democratic country like Canada would adopt such measures."

He added, "This sort of behaviour is in contravention of all diplomatic norms. This Canadian government shelters terrorists."

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Saturday that India has lodged a formal protest with the Canadian government after revelations that its consular officials in Canada were subjected to audio and video surveillance. The MEA condemned these actions as "flagrant violations" of diplomatic and consular conventions.

During a press briefing, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that some Indian consular officials were recently informed by the Canadian government about the ongoing surveillance. He criticised Canada for attempting to justify its actions by citing technicalities, arguing that such justifications cannot excuse what he described as harassment and intimidation of Indian diplomatic personnel.

Tensions between India and Canada escalated after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in Parliament last year that there were "credible allegations" of India's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has firmly denied all such allegations, labelling them as "absurd" and "motivated," while accusing Canada of providing a haven for extremist and anti-India elements.