India suspends visa services for Canadians in further worsening of relations
Relations between India and Canada have further deteriorated after it was announced that Delhi was suspending visa services for Canadians.
BLS International, which runs the Indian visa offices in Canada, put a notice on its website stating that all visa services for Canadians were suspended until further notice, citing “operational reasons”.
It was the latest retaliatory move by India’s foreign ministry in response to Justin Trudeau’s allegation this week that there was “credible evidence” Delhi had been involved in the murder of a Sikh activist in British Colombia in June.
India rejected the allegations as “absurd” and in the aftermath the two countries engaged in a tit-for-tat expulsion of top diplomats.
On Wednesday, India updated its travel advisory for Canada, warning its citizens residing and travelling in the country to take “extreme caution” due to “growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes” in Canada.
Canada’s own advisory for its nationals travelling to India includes warnings of a “threat of terrorist attack throughout the country”. The two sides announced they were also suspending ongoing trade talks.
A spokesperson for Canada’s foreign ministry had also told Canadian media that after some diplomatic employees in India had received threats online, they were “temporarily adjusting staff” in their high commission in Delhi.
Trudeau had said he was not looking to “provoke or escalate” by making the allegations and had requested that the Indian government cooperate with the Canadian investigation. However, the allegations have been met with outrage across the political divide in India, and the government, led by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, showed little sign of agreeing to work with the Canadians.
The issue of Khalistan, a secessionist movement fighting for Punjab to become an independent Sikh state, has long been a sore spot in India-Canada relations. Canada is home to a large Sikh diaspora community and India has alleged that the Canadian government is turning a blind eye to Khalistani extremism on its own soil.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist who was killed in June, had been named as a terrorist by the Indian government in 2020, which accused him of playing a role in a violent attack on India and being part of the Khalistan Tiger Force, an organisation that it has banned.
Should Canada impose similar visa restrictions on Indian citizens, it could have a significant impact. Indians topped the list last year of legal immigrants to Canada, with more than 118,000 becoming permanent residents in 2022. There are also more than 320,000 Indian students studying in Canadian universities.