Forty-one Canadian diplomats have recently left India amid a rift over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil.

India asked Canada two weeks ago to withdraw dozens of its diplomatic staff and threatened to remove their immunity if they remained.

Relations have been tense after Canada said India may have been behind the 18 June killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has denied the allegations, calling them “absurd”.

On Thursday, Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, confirmed that many Canadian diplomats in India have now left the country.

She said India had said that immunity for “all but 21 diplomats” will be “unilaterally removed” by 20 October.

Ms Joly added that the remaining 21 diplomats are still in India, but the withdrawal means Canada will have to limit its services in the country due to a shortage of staff.

Specifically, the move will put a pause on in-person operations in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chandigarh, Ms Joly said.

She added services will still be available out of the High Commission of Canada in Delhi.

Canada had many more diplomats in Delhi than India has in Ottawa, and since the row between the two countries erupted, India asked Canada for parity in its diplomatic missions.

India saying it would remove diplomatic immunity for Canadian envoys is a “violation of international law”, Ms Joly during a news conference in Ottawa.

She said Ottawa will not be reciprocate.

Officials said they still welcome Indian nationals who want to visit or move to Canada.

Canada-India relations have deteriorated to a historic low after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September there was credible evidence of a potential link between India and Nijjar’s murder.

Mr Trudeau said this was based on Canadian intelligence, which suggested that “agents of the government of India” were behind the attack.

Nijjar was shot and killed by two masked gunmen outside the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. Canadian police called it a “targeted attack”, and an investigation into the murder is ongoing.

Nijjar was an outspoken advocate for the creation of a separate state of Sikhs in India called Khalistan – a movement staunchly opposed by India – and India has designated him as a terrorist in 2020.

Despite the public accusation, Mr Trudeau has repeatedly said that Canada is not looking to escalate the rift with India.

He has called on Indian officials to cooperate with the investigation into Nijjar’s death.