India on Wednesday announced that it would resume select visa services in Canada from tomorrow, October 26, a month after suspending it amid a diplomatic standoff between the two countries which began last month when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged there was a "potential link" of Indian agents with the death of a Khalistani terrorist in Canada, identified as Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
After a considered review of the security situation, visa services for these categories -- Entry visa, business visa, medical visa and conference visa -- will be resumed from October 26, High Commission of India Ottawa, Canada said in a press release.
“Emergency situations will continue to be addressed by the High Commission and the Consulates General as it is being done currently”, the official statement added.
India had suspended visa services for Canadians across the world on September 21 and asked Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats from India, failing which they and their families would lose diplomatic immunities.
Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that 41 diplomats have been withdrawn from India and termed the Indian action "arbitrary", adding that the withdrawal of immunity would have risked safety of diplomats and their families. She further said Indian actions were not in line with international law - a charge that the Centre has rejected.
The recent visa development comes days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India is likely to resume issuance of visas to Canadians if it sees progress in the safety of Indian diplomats in Canada.
On downsizing Canada's diplomatic presence in India, he said diplomatic parity is very much provided for in the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. "Parity is very much provided for by the Vienna Convention, which is the relevant international rule on this. In our case, we invoked parity because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel," Jaishankar said.
