India to Resume Visa Services in Canada

 

India to Resume Visa Services in Canada for Some Categories from Thursday Amid Diplomatic Row

India has decided to resume some visa services in Canada, almost a month after it was suspended over security reasons.

The High Commission of India in Ottawa informed the visa services will resume for categories– Entry Visa, Business Visa, Medical Visa and Conference Visa– from October 26.

Last month, India stopped processing visas at its high commission and consulates in Canada amid an escalating diplomatic row between the two counties after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged involvement of Government of India agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said that the Indian high commission and consulates in Canada are not working properly due to threats.

“The issue is incitement of violence and inaction by the Canadian government, creation of an environment that disrupts the function of our high commission and consulates that’s what stopping us temporarily from providing visa services. This is the reason why our high commission and consulates are not able to process visa applications temporarily. We will continue to review the situation regularly,” he had said.

The bilateral relations between the two countries have taken a hit following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June.

India has rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

EAM S Jaishankar has recently said India-Canada relations are “going through a difficult phase”.

The EAM said there was interference by Canadian personnel in the country’s internal affairs adding that India does not approve of certain segments of Canadian politics.

“Parity is very much provided for by the Vienna Convention, which is the relevant international rule on this. In our case, we invoked parity because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel,” Jaishankar said.