India has informed Canada that it must withdraw 41 of its diplomats by October 10, reports the Financial Times.

Relations between India and Canada have been severely strained over Canadian suspicions that agents of the Indian government played a role in the assassination of Sikh leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver. India calls him a "terrorist".

India dismisses the allegations as absurd.

The Financial Times quoted sources familiar with India's pressure on Ottawa as adding that India had threatened to withdraw diplomatic immunity from the diplomats it was pushing to expel and set a tight deadline.

Canada has 62 diplomats in India and New Delhi says their total should be reduced by 41.

The foreign ministries of both countries did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Earlier, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said there was a "climate of violence" and an "atmosphere of intimidation" against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has angered New Delhi.

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