New Delhi: India has suspended the issue of visas to Canadian citizens “till further notice” from 21 September, deepening the recent diplomatic falling out between the two countries.
A notification on the official website of “India Visa Application Center Canada” read Thursday: “Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice. Please keep checking BLS website for further updates.”
BLS International is the third-party Indian company that does the initial scrutiny of visa applications of Canadians.
India and Canada are locked in a raging diplomatic row triggered by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation this week that Indian agents were potentially responsible for the murder of Canadian citizen and separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"Important notice from Indian Mission: Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice. Please keep checking BLS website for further updates," reads a notification on the official website of 'India Visa… pic.twitter.com/eJSqPjJ513
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 21, 2023
Nijjar, 45, was shot dead by masked gunmen in front of a Sikh temple on 18 June in a suburb of Vancouver, with a large Sikh population. Nijjar supported a separate Khalistani state and was designated a “terrorist” by India in July 2020.
Trudeau told his Parliament this Monday that any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen was “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”. Canada expelled an Indian intelligence officer as a “consequence”.
India rejected this charge as “absurd and motivated”, and retaliated by throwing out a senior Canadian diplomat from New Delhi.
The foreign ministry said the decision reflected the government’s “growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities”.
The Ministry of External Affairs also released an advisory for Indian citizens and students in that country to exercise “utmost caution”.
The ministry warned Indian nationals about the “growing anti-national activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada”.
Karnataka delegation led by CM Siddaramaiah meets Jal Shakti Minister to discuss Cauvery row.
On Thursday, news trickled in that a dreaded gangster wanted in Punjab was killed in Winnipeg, Canada due to an inter-gang rivalry. News agency ANI quoted sources as saying he was shot dead by an unidentified assailant.
Sukhdool Singh or Sukha Duneke fled to Canada on forged documents in 2017 and is wanted in seven criminal cases in Punjab. He was part of the Davinder Bambiha gang in his native Moga.
Also read: Locked in diplomatic row, India advises citizens in Canada to exercise utmost caution