Last month, tensions escalated between the two nations after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made allegations about the “potential” role of Indian operatives in the death of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.
Canada is making big changes because of a disagreement with India. They took away 41 of their diplomats and stopped giving visas and help at their offices in Chandigarh, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Now, if you need these services, you have to go to the Canadian High Commission in Delhi.
Canada’s Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly, explained that India told them they would take away special protections from most of Canada’s diplomats in Delhi by October 20. This would have put 41 Canadian diplomats and their family members in danger, so Canada helped them leave India safely.
Because of all this, Canada can’t provide in-person help at their offices in Chandigarh, Mumbai, and Bangalore for a while.
“Canadians who need help can still go to our office in Delhi, and you can contact us by phone or email,” she said. This happened because India wanted the same treatment for their diplomats in Canada as Canada’s diplomats in India.
There was tension between the two countries last month after Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said Indian agents might be involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who India labeled as a terrorist in 2020. India called these allegations “Crazy” and “Intentional”.
Last month in Washington, India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, spoke to reporters. He mentioned that the governments of India and Canada need to have a conversation to find solutions to their disagreements. He also stressed the need to address the broader concern about the Canadian government’s tolerance toward terrorism, extremism, and violence.
This recent change will make it much slower for Indians to get Canadian visas. Many Indian students apply for visas to study in Canadian Universities, and this will affect them. The department in charge of giving out these visas, called Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), used to have 27 people working in India, but now they only have five.
In 2022, a lot of people from India went to Canada to live, work, and study. However because there are fewer Canadian workers in India now, Indian citizens will have to wait longer for their applications to be processed, get answers to their questions, and receive their visas or passports back. The IRCC will still accept and work on applications from India, but it will take more time because there are fewer staff members.
Last month, India told Canada to reduce the number of its diplomats working in India. They said it’s important for both countries to have a similar number of diplomats and for them to be at the same level in terms of their position. Right now, Canada has more diplomats in India than India has in Canada. India has around 20 diplomats in Canada, while Canada has about three times more diplomats than India, which is roughly 60 diplomats.
Earlier, India wanted to have an equal number of diplomats as Canada in each other’s countries. India said that Canada was getting too involved in India’s affairs. A spokesperson from the Ministry of External Affairs explained that because Canada had more diplomats in India, they expected Canada to reduce their diplomats here. When asked if this might affect the number of visas Canada gives in India, they said that’s Canada’s decision, but India’s main concern is having an equal number of diplomats.
On the other hand, Canadian officials have promised that the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) staff based in India will continue to handle the everyday tasks needed there. They explained that the five IRCC staff members who are still in India will concentrate on jobs that need to be done in the country, like processing urgent cases, printing visas, assessing risks, and working with important partners.
