What’s going on between Canada and India? India suspends visas

In keeping with a doc shared by BLS Worldwide, the organisation that manages visa purposes for India from Canada, visa companies have been stopped instantly till additional discover.

The letter learn: “Resulting from operation causes, with fast impact ie 21 September 2023, Indian visa companies in Canada have been suspended until additional discover.”

Tensions have risen significantly between Canada and India for the reason that begin of this week.

The newest transfer comes days after each nations introduced diplomatic expulsions. Earlier, President Trudeau prompt that “brokers of the federal government of India” had been behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen whom India recognized as a terrorist.

So what precisely has contributed to crumbling diplomatic relations and what does it imply for the 2 nations?

Diplomatic relations have soured between India and Canada following the homicide of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Hardeep was a Sikh chief who had moved to Canada from India in 1997. He had beforehand known as for the creation of an unbiased Sikh nation to be created in India’s state of Punjab.

Sikhs make up two per cent of India’s inhabitants, and Indian authorities later branded him a “terrorist”.

Within the run-up to his demise, native studies have implied that Hardeep had been warned by Canadian Intelligence that there could be threats to his security. He was shot and killed by two masked gunmen on July 18, 2023.

This week, Justin Trudeau stated that his authorities was investigating “credible allegations probably linking” India to Hardeep’s homicide. Delhi officers slammed the allegation as “absurd”, and tensions have continued to escalate since.

Following the claims, each nations have carried out tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats earlier than India restricted visas for Canadian nationals.

At this level, Canada suspects that Indian officers could have been concerned within the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in July.

Nevertheless, Canada hasn’t publicly offered any proof of India’s involvement within the current homicide. In keeping with AP, an nameless official confirmed that Trudeau had reportedly spoken to the US administration about their findings.

When Trudeau first made the allegations, he stated: “Any involvement of a overseas authorities within the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. Canada is a rule-of-law nation; the safety of our residents and defence of our sovereignty are basic.

Days later, Trudeau added: “We’re merely laying out the info as we perceive them and we wish to work with the federal government of India to put every little thing clear and to make sure there are correct processes.”

He added: “India and the federal government of India must take this matter with the utmost seriousness.”

India and Canada have shared fruitful industrial and commerce ties prior to now and Canada is residence to one of many largest abroad communities of Indian origin. It’s additionally residence to the most important Sikh group outdoors of India.

Whereas tensions between India and Canada seem to have reached boiling level, diplomatic relations between the 2 nations have cooled over the previous few months.

India has claimed that Canada is sympathising with the Sikh separatist motion, and this week accused the North American nation of harbouring “terrorists and extremists”.

Earlier this 12 months, India’s overseas minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stated: “For us, how Canada has handled the Khalistani subject has been a long-standing concern as a result of, very frankly, they appear to be pushed by vote-bank politics.”

The current expulsion of diplomats on either side, and the restriction of Indian visas for Canadian nationals, recommend no clear finish in sight in regard to the continued tensions.

The Khalistan motion is a separatist motion created by Sikhs with the intention of making a sovereign state in India’s Punjab.

Sikhism was born in Punjab and nearly all of individuals within the state observe the faith regardless of it being a minority perception in wider India.

Sikh separatists have known as on a number of events for the creation of Khalistan to be created in Punjab. These calls for even led to a violent insurgency within the Nineteen Seventies and 80s.

Previous to his demise, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a outstanding campaigner calling for the creation of Khalistan.