Union External Affairs S Jaishankar has said that India will resume visa services for Canadian citizens “if it sees progress” in the safety of its diplomats posted in Canada. India last month suspended visa services for Canadian nationals, alleging security threats to its diplomats in Canada missions.
“If we see progress in safety of our diplomats in Canada, we would like to resume issuance of visas there,” Jaishankar said at an event in Delhi while replying to a question on India-Canada ties.
The suspension of visa services came in the backdrop of a major diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. Nijjar, a designated terrorist by New Delhi, was killed by armed gunmen in the parking lot of a Gurudwara in Surrey on June 18 this year.
Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his country’s Parliament that Ottawa has “credible allegation evidence” linking agents of New Delhi to the extra-judicial killing of Nijjar. Soon after his allegations, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly expelled an Indian diplomat.
India rejected Trudeau’s allegations, terming them “absurd and politically driven”. New Delhi also asked Ottawa to provide specific information backing the Canadian prime minister’s claims. However, Ottawa didn’t provide any evidence and the allegations disrupted bilateral ties between India and Canada.
New Delhi also invoked the clause of parity in diplomatic strength between the countries and told Canada to withdraw 41 of its diplomats posted across India. Canada last week recalled all but 21 diplomats and halted visa processing in its consulate offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chandigarh.
Joly, while announcing the decision, also accused India of violating the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations, a charge out rightly rejected by India.
“Parity is very much provided for by the Vienna Convention, which is the relevant international rule on this. In our case, we invoked parity because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel,” Jaishankar said.