India revokes Canadians’ visas as the uproar grows
In light of the mounting controversy surrounding the shooting of a Sikh separatist on Canadian land, India has suspended issuing visas to nationals of Canada.
India said that the temporary change was necessary because “security threats” were impeding functioning at its Canadian missions. India will continue to offer visa services for Canada.
When the Premier of Canada said that India may be connected to the murder of June 18 this week, tensions increased.
India vehemently denied the accusation and called it “absurd.”
For months, there has been tension between the US and its main trading and security partner. They have reached a record low, according to analysts.
The Indian government quickly said that “Canadians in third countries” are affected by the suspension of visa services.
Threats have been made against our High Commission (embassy) and consulates in Canada, according to a spokeswoman for the Indian Foreign Ministry in Delhi. “This has interfered with how they normally operate. As a result, they are momentarily unable to handle visa requests.
“India wants diplomatic power and rank parity between the two countries’ posts. “Canadian diplomatic meddling in our internal affairs is the reason this is being sought after,” he said.
Canada had already declared it was cutting the number of employees it had in India and claimed some ambassadors had received threats on social media.
There is a lot at stake despite the historically tight connections between the two nations.
How did the conflict between India and Canada become so well-known?
In Canada, there are 1.4 million persons of Indian descent, the majority of whom are Sikhs, according to the 2021 Census, making up 3.7% of the total population. India is the country that sends the most foreign students to Canada; in 2022, they made up 40% of the country’s 320,000 overall foreign students.
Nearly 80,000 Canadian tourists visited India in 2021, placing them fourth after the US, Bangladesh, and the UK.
When Canada accused India of being responsible for the murder of separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian who was shot dead in his car by two masked assailants outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia on Monday, the conflict flared up.
