India has told Canada that it must repatriate 41 diplomats by October 10, according to The Financial Times newspaper.

Ties between India and Canada have become strained over Canadian suspicion that Indian government agents had a role in the June murder in British Columbia of a Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who India had labelled a “terrorist” because of his advocacy for Khalistan, an independent Sikh state.

India has dismissed the murder allegation as absurd.

The Financial Times, quoting people familiar with the Indian demand, reported on Tuesday that India had threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of those diplomats told to leave if they remained after October 10.