Canada (Commonwealth Union)_ India has stopped approving visas to Canadian people amid a mounting row over the assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil. India informed that the momentary move was due to “security threats” unsettling work at its assignments in Canada.
Pressures flared this week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged India may have been behind the 18 June killing. But Trudeau informed on Thursday he was not trying to aggravate India with the claim. India has furiously rejected the claim, calling it “absurd”.
Speaking to journalists in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Gathering, Mr. Trudeau informed: “There is no doubt that India is a country of growing status and a state we want to endure to work with.”
He informed Canada was not looking to aggravate India or cause complications with the allegation but is clear about the standing of the rule of law and protecting Canadians.
Relationship between the countries, key trade and safety partners, and US allies – have been stressed for months. Experts say they are now at an all-time low.
Indian government quickly made it clear that the interruption of visa facilities also “applies to Canadians in a third country”.
“There have been intimidations made to our high commission [embassy] and ambassies in Canada,” a foreign affairs ministry spokesman in Delhi alleged. “This has disturbed their normal operative. Accordingly [they] are momentarily unable to process visa applications.” He informed, “India is aiming for impartiality in rank and political strength amid the diplomatic assignments of the two countries. This is being required because of Canadian diplomatic intrusion in our interior affairs.”
Hours prior, Canada had proclaimed it was reducing its staffs in India, saying some representatives had received threats on social media. “In light of the present environment where gravities have heightened, we are captivating action to guarantee the security of our representatives,” a statement projected. Canada’s visa facilities remain open in India. The two countries have significant close ties – and much is at jeopardy.
Canada has 1.4 million individuals of Indian origin – more than half of them Sikhs – making up 3.7% of the country’s populace, according to the 2021 census. India also directs the maximum number of international students to Canada – in 2022, they made up 40% of entire overseas students at 320,000.
According to Indian government data, about 80,000 Canadian tourists visited India in 2021, below only the US, Bangladesh and UK. The turmoil outburst on Monday after Canada connected India with the assassination of separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was gunned down in his vehicle by two masked gunmen outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia.
Justin Trudeau Prime Minister informed that Canada’s intelligence agencies were examining whether “agents of the Indian government” were tangled in the killing of Nijjar – who India nominated a terrorist in 2020.
India responded strongly, saying Canada was trying to “shift the emphasis from Khalistani terrorists and extremists” who had been given shelter there. The Indian government has frequently responded sharply to demands by Sikh separatists in Western countries for Khalistan, or a separate Sikh homeland.
On Thursday, Mr. Trudeau was compelled by journalists about what indication there was that recommended India was connected to the murder. He did not share additional details, but said “the choice to share these claims was not done lightly”.
“It was done with the greatest seriousness,” Mr. Trudeau informed, urging Indian administrators to collaborate with the investigation into the killing.
A representative for the Indian foreign ministry said Canada has not shared precise material with India on Nijjar’s murder. “We have informed this to the Canadian side, made it indistinct to them that we are eager to look at any precise information that is provided to us,” said Arindam Bagchi on Thursday. “But so far we have not recognized any such precise material.”
The Khalistan movement reached a high in India in the 1980s with a fierce revolution centered in Sikh-majority Punjab state.
It was suppressed by force and has little character in India now, but is still common among some in the Sikh diaspora in countries such as Canada, Australia and the UK.
