India-Canada Tensions: Relations between India and Canada are going through a very delicate situation these days. There is a lot of tension between the relations between the two countries.
India-Canada Relations: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that if India sees progress in the security of its diplomats in Canada, it may soon start visa service for Canadians. He said that visa service through India was temporarily stopped for a few weeks. The main reason for this was the concern for the safety of Indian diplomats in Canada. Canada could not provide a safe environment for diplomats, which is a violation of the Vienna Convention.
Relations between India and Canada have become quite tense. The reason for this is the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which Canada blamed on India. Canada also asked India’s top diplomat to leave Ottawa. India initially denied any involvement in Nijjar’s murder. After this, in retaliation, the Canadian diplomat was ordered to leave New Delhi. Besides, visa service for Canadian citizens was also stopped.
What else did the Foreign Minister say?
Jaishankar said that if we see progress in the security of our diplomats in Canada, then we will consider starting a visa service. I am hoping that this should happen very soon. He said that a few weeks ago, India had stopped the process of issuing visas in Canada. The reason for this was that it was not safe for our diplomats to do so while going to work. Keeping their safety in mind, we had to temporarily stop the visa service.
The Foreign Minister expressed hope that the security situation will improve. He said that if security improves, it will be possible for diplomats to work with confidence. Ensuring the security of diplomats is the most fundamental aspect of the Vienna Convention. Jaishankar said that right now there are many such challenges in Canada, due to which our people are not safe. The safety of our diplomats also remains in danger. Visa service will start as soon as there is progress in the security of diplomats.
41 Canadian diplomats have recently left India. He was ordered to leave New Delhi. Talking about this, the Foreign Minister said that equality in the number of diplomats through the Vienna Convention is a relevant international rule. He told that this whole matter is similar to how many diplomats should be there in a country. This is a system which applies to both the countries. We asked Canada to keep the numbers equal because its officials were interfering.
