India had stopped issuing visas in Canada last month citing the safety of Indian diplomats in the country
India is reviewing the security situation in Canada that led to the suspension of visa services in the country, people in the know of developments said on Sunday (October 22, 2023). India had stopped issuing visas in Canada last month.
 
Speaking at an event in New Delhi during the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar pointed out that this happened because it was no longer safe for Indian diplomats to go to work to issue visas. "Their safety and security was the primary reason due to which we had to temporarily stop the issue of visas," he noted while speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave.
 
Stating that the situation was being tracked very closely, he said, "My hope, my expectation is that situation would improve in the sense that our people would have greater confidence in being able to do their basic duty as diplomats. So, if we see progress there, I would very much like to resume the issue of visas".

"My hope would be that it would be something which should happen very soon," he added.
 
According to EAM Jaishankar, the India-Canada relationship right now was going through a difficult period. "But I do want to say that the problems we have are with a certain segment of Canadian politics and the policies that flow from that," he said.
 
He pointed out that ensuring the safety and security of diplomats is the most fundamental aspect of the Vienna Convention. "And right now, that is what has in many ways been challenged in Canada that our people are not safe, our diplomats are not safe," EAM Jaishankar said.
 

On the issue of parity in mutual diplomatic presence, EAM Jaishankar said this was provided for in the Vienna Convention. "In our case, we invoked parity because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel," he explained. Remarking that India had not made most of this public, he said, "My sense is that over a period of time more stuff will come out and people will understand why we had the kind discomfort with many of them which we did".
 
The reduction in the number of Canadian diplomats stationed in India came as bilateral relations worsened over the past few months following threats by pro-Khalistan separatists to Indian diplomats in Canada. The matter reached a flashpoint after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in connection with the killing of pro-Khalistan Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia in June this year. 
 
On September 18, 2023, Prime Minister Trudeau informed the Canadian parliament about the ongoing probe into the death of Nijjar and spoke of India's possible involvement. India, incidentally, had declared him as a wanted terrorist. 
 
Canada had expelled a senior Indian diplomat soon after the Canadian Prime Minister's remarks. This was followed by the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat by India. New Delhi subsequently invoked the issue of parity in diplomatic representation between the two countries.