India suspends new visas due to security concerns..?
In response to prime minister Justin Trudeau's allegations that New delhi was responsible for the murder of a Sikh separatist, india on thursday suspended new visas for Canadians and requested that Ottawa scale back its diplomatic representation there. According to the indian Foreign Ministry, canada has not provided any specific information regarding the accusations made by Trudeau, but New delhi is willing to review it if it is.
The lowest point in India-Canada relations was when india abruptly stopped issuing new visas to any Western nation. After some diplomats received threats on social media, the Canadian high commission in india announced that it would temporarily "adjust" staff presence in the nation. Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for the indian foreign ministry, however, claimed that Ottawa had been asked to scale back the size of its diplomatic missions in india to ensure parity between the two nations' embassies.
Bagchi claimed that india had stopped issuing fresh visas to Canadians because of "security threats" to its employees at its consulates in that country. india hasn't offered any proof or specifics about the nature of these security threats, and in response, Canada's public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc said on wednesday that his country was safe. "You are aware of the security risks our high commission and consulates in canada are currently facing. This has interfered with how they normally operate, Bagchi told reporters on thursday during a weekly briefing.
Accordingly, he explained, "our high commission and consulates are momentarily unable to process visa applications." He also said that the security environment would be regularly assessed. According to indian government data, canada is the fourth most popular destination for international travellers with 350,000 visitors in 2019. This number decreased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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