[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]Canada has temporarily suspended in-person operations at its consulates in several Indian cities and cautioned of delays in visa processing due to a diplomatic dispute regarding the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia. The affected consulates in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, and Mumbai made this announcement shortly after Foreign Minister Melanie Joly revealed that Canada had withdrawn 41 diplomats from India.
Despite the dispute, two senior Indian government sources stated that the situation would not escalate into a trade dispute or affect investments, with imports from Canada continuing as usual. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $8 billion in 2022.
Read more : India Tells Canada To Withdraw Their Diplomats By 10 October
Last month, India asked Canada to reduce its diplomatic presence after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed there was credible evidence of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has denied any connection to the shooting that took place outside a Sikh temple in June.
Canada’s High Commission in New Delhi stated, “The Consulates General of Canada in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, and Mumbai are temporarily suspending in-person operations,” while adding that services in the capital remain unaffected.
Canada’s Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) department announced a reduction in the number of employees in India from 27 to 5, potentially impacting visa processing times, even though the majority of processing occurs abroad. It emphasized Canada’s strong connection with Indian citizens and its continued openness to welcoming them for various purposes.
Approximately 2 million Canadians, constituting around 5% of the total population, have Indian heritage. India also serves as Canada’s largest source of foreign students, accounting for roughly 40% of the total.
India has rejected Trudeau’s suspicions that its agents were involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen whom New Delhi had labeled a terrorist. The Indian foreign ministry defended its reduction of Canada’s diplomatic presence and refuted Joly’s assertion that it violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. It stated that the state of bilateral relations, the significantly higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in Indian internal affairs justified a balance in mutual diplomatic representation in New Delhi and Ottawa.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
