(Ottawa) India’s visa processing center in Canada suspended services on Thursday, as the rift widened between the two countries after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said India may have been involved in the assassination of a Canadian citizen.
Trudeau told Parliament on Monday that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the assassination of Sikh independence activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had been wanted by India for years and was shot dead in June in front of the temple he led.
Canada also expelled an Indian diplomat, and India did the same with a Canadian diplomat on Tuesday. India called the allegations absurd and said it was an attempt to distract from the presence of Mr. Nijjar and other wanted suspects in Canada.
“Important notice from the Indian Mission: For operational reasons, effective September 21, 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended until further notice,” reads the website of BLS International, a visa provider. Indian services for diplomatic missions. No further details are available.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs had no immediate comment.
The High Commission of Canada in New Delhi announced that all of its consulates in India are open and continuing to provide services, but that staff security is being assessed.
“In light of the current context where tensions have increased, we are taking measures to ensure the safety of our diplomats. Some diplomats having received threats on various social media platforms, Global Affairs Canada is evaluating the number of its staff in India,” the ministry said in a statement.
Canada expects India to ensure the security of its diplomats and consular officers in accordance with the Vienna Conventions.
In 2021, 80,000 Canadian tourists visited India, making it the fourth largest group, according to the Indian Bureau of Immigration.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued an updated travel advisory on Wednesday, urging its citizens traveling to Canada and particularly those studying in the North American country to exercise caution due to ” the increase in anti-Indian activities and hate crimes sanctioned by political authorities.”
Indians should also avoid traveling to places in Canada where “threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose the anti-Indian agenda,” the ministry said.
Increased security in Vancouver
At the time of his assassination, Mr Nijjar was working to organize an unofficial referendum within the Sikh diaspora on independence from India. He had denied India’s accusations that he was a terrorist.
Vancouver police increased security outside the Indian consulate following Trudeau’s announcement this week.
The second stage of the vote in British Columbia on the creation of a Sikh homeland took place in November.
Officer Tania Visintin, head of media relations for the Vancouver police, said in a statement Wednesday that police were “monitoring the situation closely.”
“We do extensive work behind the scenes, which includes ongoing risk assessments, with the goal of maintaining public safety and preventing violence,” said Ms.me Visintin.
Mme Visintin said Vancouver police were not aware of any specific threats against Indian consular officials, but had increased their presence at the consulate in downtown Vancouver.
Long-standing tensions
The demand for an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan, began with an insurgency in the Indian state of Punjab in the 1970s, which was crushed by an Indian government crackdown that left thousands dead . The movement has since lost much of its political power, but it still has supporters in Punjab, where Sikhs are the majority, as well as among the large Sikh diaspora abroad.
India’s National Investigation Agency said on Wednesday it had intensified its crackdown on Sikh insurgents in India.
It announced rewards of up to 1 million rupees ($16,240) for information leading to the arrest of five insurgents, one of whom is believed to be based in neighboring Pakistan.
The agency accuses them of extorting money from companies on behalf of a banned Sikh organization, Babbar Khalsa International, and of carrying out targeted killings in India. “They have also established a network of agents in different countries to continue their terrorist activities in India,” the agency added in a statement, without naming any country.
India accuses Pakistan of supporting insurgencies in Kashmir and Punjab, which Islamabad denies.
With the Associated Press