India suspends visa services in Canada

In a series of flipflops a private agency hired by India to carry out initial scrutiny of visa applications of Canadians on Thursday put out a note on its website on suspension of visa services due to ldquooperational reasonsrdquo withdrew it within hours and then again put it back onlineThe agency BLS International also informed the stock exchanges that it had suspended India visa services in Canada with immediate effect The note put on Canada page of the firmrsquos website which was withdrawn and restored later read ldquoImportant notice from Indian mission Due to operational reasons with effect from September 21 2023 Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice Please keep checking BLS website for further updatesrdquoScreengrab of the BLS websiteBLS International Services Limited a listed company also said in its stock exchange filing that the impact of this move is negligible on its financials as ldquothe Canadian visa issuance business contributes less than two per cent to BLS Internationalsrsquo total annual revenuerdquo India and Canada are embroiled in a diplomatic row over the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in JuneAlso read Rajya Sabha passes womenrsquos reservation billCanada temporarily adjust staff in IndiaCanada on Thursday said it is assessing its staff complement in India and taking action to ensure safety of its diplomats in the country claiming that some of them have received threats on various social media platforms The Canadian High Commission said Ottawa expects New Delhi to provide for the security of its diplomats and consular officers in India and that it has decided to ldquotemporarilyrdquo adjust staff presence in the country as a precautionary measure ldquoWith some diplomats having received threats on various social media platforms Global Affairs Canada is assessing its staff complement in Indiardquo the high commission saidTake allegations seriously TrudeauCanadian PM Justin Trudeau Thursday reiterated that there are ldquocredible allegationsrdquo as he urged the government of India to work with his country to allow justice to follow its course in the killing of a Khalistani extremist leader ldquoWe call upon the GOI to take this matter seriously and to work with us to shed full transparency and ensure accountability and justice in this matter We are a country of the rule of lawrdquo he saidSome prejudice in Trudeaursquos allegations MEAIndia on Thursday said there is a degree of prejudice in Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaursquos allegations against it on the killing of a Khalistani separatist in Canada and termed these as ldquopolitically motivatedrdquo The MEA said Canada did not share any specific information with India When asked at a press conference whether New Delhi has apprised its views to its allies on the row spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India has conveyed its position He also said the Indian high commission and consulates in Canada are temporarily unable to process visa applications in view of disruption of work due to security issueslsquoPunjabis in panic over IndiaCanada tiesrsquoAmid strains in IndiaCanada ties Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday met Amit Shah and hoped for a quick resolution to disputes between the two countries noting that Punjabis in large numbers live there and the deteriorating relations have left them in a state of panic ldquoBoth governments Indiarsquos as well as Canadarsquos should find a solution as soon as possiblerdquo he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever