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One month on, India resumes some visa services for Canadians

India resumes visa service in Canada for select categories

Hours after S Jaishankar's remark, India had said on Sunday that it was reviewing the security situation

NEW DELHI: With Canada beefing up security for Indian diplomats, the government on Wednesday took a step towards normalising visa services by resuming work for entry, business, medical and conference visas. The development followed foreign minister S Jaishankar 's statement on Sunday that India could resume visa services very, very soon.
However, tourist and e-visas for Canadians will remain suspended for now.

India had halted all visa services, including in third countries, for Canadian nationals on September 21, saying Canada had failed to fulfil its obligations under the Vienna Convention by not ensuring the safety and security of Indian diplomats. This followed the controversy over Canadian PM Justin Trudeau 's allegation that India had a role in the killing of pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar .


Hours after Jaishankar 's remark, India had said on Sunday that it was reviewing the security situation. The Indian high commission in Ottawa said in a statement on Wednesday that after a considered review of the security situation that took into account some recent Canadian measures, the Indian missions in Canada had decided to resume services in the aforementioned categories.
"Further decisions, as appropriate, would be intimated based on continuing evaluation of the situation," it said.
Entry visas, which have been resumed, are granted to people of Indian origin and to those who are dependent family members of employment visa holders.
Indian missions in Canada restart after security review
This followed the controversy over Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s allegation that India had a role in the killing of pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar .

Hours after Jaishankar’s remark, India had said on Sunday that it was reviewing the security situation. The Indian high commission in Ottawa said in a statement on Wednesday that after a considered review of the security situation that took into account some recent Canadian measures, the Indian missions in Canada had decided to resume services in the aforementioned categories.


“Further decisions, as appropriate, would be intimated based on continuing evaluation of the situation,” it said.
Entry visas, which have been resumed, are granted to people of Indian origin and to those who are dependent family members of employment visa holders.
India’s decision to resume some visa services came in the middle of another diplomatic flare-up between the two countries over the expulsion of 41 Canadian diplomats by India.
While Canada continues to process visas for Indian nationals, it has shut services in its consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Canada had been issuing 15,000 visas every week to Indian nationals before the disruption caused by the diplomatic spat. It remains to be seen if there’s any drastic fall in that number because of the shortage of staff here.
A Canadian minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday that while Canada was expecting to process 38,000 visas this year for Indians under the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) category, it will now be able to handle only 20,000.
Watch India resumes visa service in Canada for select categories