Indian foreign ministry claims ‘security threats’ after Trudeau’s explosive allegation of state-sponsored killing mean it cannot provide visa services safely

India says it is indefinitely suspending visa services in all categories for all Canadian nationals due to “security threats” to its consulates, amid a furious diplomatic row between the two countries.

Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said they have suspended “all categories” of visas, including e-visas and for Canadian citizens applying from third countries.

And India has also moved to downsize the Canadian diplomatic presence in New Delhi, saying that Canada has more embassy workers in its capital than visa versa and that it wants to restore “parity”.

It comes after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of the Indian state’s involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, triggering a furious tit-for-tat row.

  • GreenM@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Is India such a popular destination for Canadians ? I mean who is hurt more in this “he`s done it, so i pay back” game?

    • frickineh@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Something like 7% of Canada’s population is South Asian. I don’t know what percentage of that has Canadian citizenship and is specifically from India, but I’d guess there are a fair number of people who won’t be able to visit family now. It’s a shitty way to retaliate, but not unsurprising coming from Modi.

      • GreenM@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Well those who come from India they don’t need visa and second generation of original immigrants might not have such a tight relations on average as they have lived whole life in Canada. Then how many Canadians work in India in comparison to how many Indians work in Canada. I’m just guessing here but somehow I think Indians are hurting their own people. If it’s about tourism , then again who needs tourism more if we count only tourists from these two countries visiting each other.

        • frickineh@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Interesting. I do passport applications (granted, in the US, so not completely the same), but I see a fair amount of 2nd gen Indians who are going to India. Lots of people going for weddings or young adults visiting grandparents or taking their own babies to meet the extended family. Regardless, it’s super petty.

          • GreenM@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            they hurt their own people in sense not Canadians in general. (Graparents won’t see their grandchildren etc)

    • Rinox@feddit.it
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      9 months ago

      I doubt there are many Canadians who go there for leisure, but for work? I bet there’s quite a few of them.

      • GreenM@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Do you think more Canadians work in India or vice versa? I don’t know but somehow I get feeling Indians like working for higher $$$ in the west then Canadians in the India.

    • psmgx@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      it ain’t the white ones who are going, it’s the 2nd generation (or later) Indians in Canada who may have issues. “with us or against us, pick a side, otherwise you’re not going to visit Grandma”