India & Canada Visa Issue: Canada and India’s relations have deteriorated. India stopped issuing visas to Canadians on Thursday for an indeterminate duration. There have also been rumours that Canada intends to drastically reduce the number of staff members at its High Commission in India. If this is the case, India might respond in kind with a similar action.
India has not yet made the suspension of visa issuing official. However, the organisation in charge of providing online visa services, BLS International, has announced that Indian visa services are now suspended until further notice owing to operational concerns.
In order to effectively combat the Khalistani separatist movement, which has been calling for the creation of an independent Sikh state, India and Canada have been at odds for a long time. According to Indian police, Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered in June of last year. Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, reportedly claimed to have “credible information” that Indian operatives were responsible for his assassination.
In reaction to the claims, Canada has also removed a senior employee from the Indian Embassy. Since then, the ties between the two nations have rapidly worsened. As part of this approach, the decision was made to suspend visas and cut embassy staff. In retaliation, India has now instructed a senior representative of the Canadian embassy to leave the nation.
Relations between India and Canada have never been this tense. This is the first time Canada has temporarily reduced the number of visas. However, numerous governments stopped visas for citizens of other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, although that was in a different situation.
India, meanwhile, maintains sure that they are unrelated to the murder of Nijjar. The Khalistani separatist Sikh community’s internal factional conflict was the cause of his assassination. Nijjar was a prominent member of the Sikh for Justice (SFJ) leadership, an illegal separatist group in India. He was shot and killed last June in Surrey, Vancouver, not far from the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. Indian spies were allegedly responsible for the assassination, according to Prime Minister Trudeau.
Canada has increased security measures for Indian ambassadors and staff in response to the claims. Attacks on Indian diplomats in the nation have occurred often. Following the threats, India has also urged all of its people, particularly those travelling to Canada as students, to take precautions and exercise care.
Another leader of the Khalistan movement, Sukhdev Singh, better known as Sukha Dukha, has reportedly passed away in Canada during this tense period in bilateral ties. Sukhdev Singh, however, was seen as a violent Sikh fundamentalist in India. He had a close relationship with the terrorist from the Khalistan group Arshdeep, whom India had been attempting to extradite for some time. Nijjar also wanted to go back to India. The cost of his head was one million rupees.
The death of Sukhdev Singh occurred in Winnipeg, Canada. These criminals are reportedly not only present in Canada but also in the United States, Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Portugal, Italy, Indonesia, and Germany, according to Indian intelligence.
Relationships between India and Canada are now tense, and it is unclear how things will develop over the next few days. Despite Prime Minister Trudeau’s vocal accusations, both nations have been wary about making any official declarations regarding cooperation in disclosing the facts.
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