India resumes visa services for certain categories in Canada amid diplomatic standoff

The visa services have been resumed for the following categories – Entry visa, Business visa, Medical visa and Conference visa, a statement by the High Commission of India in Ottawa stated.

New Delhi: India has resumed visa services for select categories in Canada amid the ongoing hiatus between the two countries over the killing of a Khalistani separatist earlier this year.

The visa services have been resumed for the following categories – Entry visa, Business visa, Medical visa and Conference visa, a statement by the High Commission of India in Ottawa stated.

• The latest Press Release on resumption of visa service may be seen here. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @PIB_India @DDNewslive @ANI @WIONews @TOIIndiaNews @htTweets @cgivancouver @IndiainToronto pic.twitter.com/iwKIgF2qin

  — India in Canada (@HCI_Ottawa) October 25, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  The latest Press Release on resumption of visa service may be seen here. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @PIB_India @DDNewslive @ANI @WIONews @TOIIndiaNews @htTweets @cgivancouver @IndiainToronto pic.twitter.com/iwKIgF2qin

  — India in Canada (@HCI_Ottawa) October 25, 2023

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  The latest Press Release on resumption of visa service may be seen here. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @PIB_India @DDNewslive @ANI @WIONews @TOIIndiaNews @htTweets @cgivancouver @IndiainToronto pic.twitter.com/iwKIgF2qin

  — India in Canada (@HCI_Ottawa) October 25, 2023

The development comes days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday that India is looking at resuming visa services for Canadians "very soon" if it sees progress in the safety of its diplomats in Canada. The ties between India and Canada nosedived after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged on September 18 that there was a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.

New Delhi strongly trashed the charges. Days later, it announced the temporary suspension of the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in India. The External Affairs Ministry said India had to stop issuing visas in Canada because it wasn't safe for the Indian diplomats to work there amid continuous threats and extremism.

Last week, Canada pulled 41 diplomats from India, after New Delhi had conveyed its concerns over parity in diplomatic strength. Ottawa also halted its visa and consular services in Chandigarh, Mumbai, and Bengaluru consulate.

During a recent event, EAM S Jaishankar had said, "There's this whole issue of parity that the size of how many diplomats there are of one country versus how many diplomats there are of the other country. Parity is very much provided for by the Vienna Convention, which is the relevant international rule on this. But in our case, we invoked parity because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel. We haven't made much of that public".

"My sense is over a period of time more stuff will come out and people will understand why we had the kind of discomfort with many of them which we did," the EAM added.