India confirmed today, Thursday, its demand for a further reduction of the Canadian diplomatic presence after reports indicated that New Delhi ordered the return of dozens of Foreign Service employees amid a dispute over the killing of a Sikh separatist.

Relations between Ottawa and New Delhi have deteriorated following Canada's suggestion of New Delhi's involvement in the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot on June 18 in the Surrey suburb of Vancouver.

New Delhi rejected Canada's accusations as "absurd," and this was followed by a reciprocal expulsion of diplomats, as well as India halting the processing of visa applications for Canadians.

The spokesperson for the Indian Foreign Ministry, Arindam Bagchi, did not confirm a report in the "Financial Times" that stated Canada was asked to return 41 diplomats out of 62 by October 10 of this year, but he said that his country assumed there would be a reduction in the Canadian diplomatic presence after requesting Ottawa to provide parity in diplomatic attendance.

Bagchi told reporters that "as a result of the presence of

Canadian diplomats here being significantly larger, and due to their ongoing interference in our internal affairs, we sought parity in our diplomatic presence."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed last Tuesday that his country is seeking to avoid escalating the situation.

This issue could complicate U.S. initiatives toward India after the two countries have improved their relations in recent years, as Washington considers New Delhi a key ally in countering Chinese influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The American news site "Politico" reported that U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti warned that relations "have been deteriorating for some time and may necessitate a reduction in communications with Indian officials."

A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in New Delhi denied these reports, saying that "Ambassador Garcetti works hard every day to deepen the partnership between the peoples and governments of the United States and India."