India stops issuing visas to Canadians as row escalates: Students and parents anxious

NEW DELHI Sept 22: India has stopped issuing visas to Canadians and told Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country, in a major escalation of the dispute between the two countries over the killing of a Sikh separatist.

Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said the suspension of visa processing was due to Canada’s failure to address “threats” to its diplomatic operations.

“You are aware of the security threats being faced by our high commission and consulates in Canada,” Bagchi said in a news briefing on Thursday. “This has disrupted their normal functioning.”

India has reacted angrily to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement on Monday that his country’s intelligence agencies were pursuing “credible allegations” linking Indian agents to the killing of Canadian Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a suburb outside Vancouver in June.

Bagchi said New Delhi had called on Canada to reduce the number of diplomats it has in India in order to ensure “parity” of diplomatic presence.

“We think their numbers are much higher, and those details are being worked out,” Bagchi said.

Canada’s high commission in New Delhi had said earlier on Thursday that it would “temporarily adjust” staffing to ensure its diplomats’ safety.

“With some diplomats having received threats on various social media platforms, Global Affairs Canada is assessing its staff complement in India,” the high commission said, adding that the move was “out of an abundance of caution”.

“We have been receiving numerous calls from parents in India who are worried about the well-being and safety of their children studying in Canada. While reassuring them that things will eventually settle down, we know a lot depends upon the political leadership of both countries to diffuse any fears and tensions,” Manan Gupta, a Canada-based immigration expert told IndiaToday.In.

Gupta, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, said the diplomatic showdown between Canada and India was causing “endless anxiety” among people waiting to secure their visas for Canada for temporary and permanent residence (PR).Should India-Canada relations deteriorate further, and India decides to turn the tap off on its students going to Canada, its post-secondary education — aside of the well-funded public universities, could collapse, says Daksh Panwar, an independent Indo-Canadian journalist.

“Not just that, as international students bring in 30 billion dollars to the Canadian economy each year, it could have a knocking impact on other sectors as well. In housing, for example, we are talking about widespread mortgage defaults in major metros — Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Greater Vancouver Area, Calgary — where students are present in large numbers. They make up a substantial chunk of the population renting houses, subsidising homeowners’ mortgages at a time when interest rates are sky high,” Daksh Panwar tells IndiaToday.In from London, Canada.