Last month, India carried out a review of the security situation in its missions in Canada
India has resumed e-visa services for Canadian nationals, people in the know of developments said on Wednesday (November 22, 2023). This comes about two months after India suspended all visa services for Canadian citizens citing the safety of its diplomats stationed in Canada.
 
Bilateral relations between India and Canada came under strain earlier this year following threats by pro-Khalistan separatists to Indian diplomats in Canada.
 
The matter reached a flashpoint in September after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations about India's potential involvement in the killing of pro-Khalistan Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia in June this year. India rejected the allegation outright and accused the Canadian government of going soft on Khalistan separatists operating from their soil.
 
Last month, India carried out a review of the security situation in its missions in Canada. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had  said visa services would be restored when there was an improvement in the situation.
 
Speaking at an event in New Delhi on October 22, 2023, he pointed out that 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.
 
The past few months have seen a tense diplomatic stand-off between India and Canada after threats to Indian diplomats based there.
 
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, which had declared Nijjar as a wanted terrorist, reacted by describing the claim as absurd and motivated.
 
Canada had expelled a senior Indian diplomat soon after Prime Minister Trudeau's remarks. This was followed by the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat by India. New Delhi also invoked the issue of parity in diplomatic representation between the two countries.
 
Canada subsequently announced that it had pulled out 41 diplomats from India and halted its visa and consular services in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru. These services would now be available only at the High Commission in New Delhi, Canadian authorities said.