Canada on Thursday welcomed New Delhi’s decision to resume some visa-related services saying the move was a “good sign after an anxious time” for Canadians. Immigration minister Marc Miller, while welcoming the decision, said the suspension of visa services “should never have happened”.
India had suspended visa services days after Canada accused the country’s officials of conspiring to murder Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“Our feeling is that a suspension should never have happened in the first place,” he was quoted as saying by CTV News.
He added that the “really concerning diplomatic situation” had created fear in a lot of communities.
Canada’s emergency preparedness minister Harjit Sajjan welcomed the move but said he wouldn’t speculate on the message India was sending by resuming these services.
Also read: Talks at multiple levels preceded partial resumption of visa services in Canada
India’s high commission in Canada said on Wednesday that some types of visa applications for Canadians would be processed by the Indian officials.
Nijjar, a designated terrorist, was murdered on June 18 in British Columbia. Last month, after the G-20 summit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of having involvement in his murder. India dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
Sajjan today said Ottawa was still seeking India’s help in the murder.
New Delhi has resumed services like entry visas, business visas, medical visas and conference visas.
India resumed visa services after Canadian authorities showed “greater responsiveness” to New Delhi’s concerns over the safety and security of its diplomatic premises and personnel, an official told HT. This came after discussions at multiple levels that went on for 10 days.
Taking a strong posture against Trudeau’s allegations, India had accused Canadian diplomats of interference in its internal matters and asked it withdraw 41 of its diplomats to achieve parity in numbers. Last week, Canada pulled out 41 of its diplomats in India.
The United States and Britain backed Canada on the withdrawal of diplomats.
With inputs from PTI