Current:Home > MyIndia eases a visa ban a month after Canada alleged its involvement in a Sikh separatist’s killing -Excel Wealth Summit
India eases a visa ban a month after Canada alleged its involvement in a Sikh separatist’s killing
View
Date:2025-04-17 01:31:56
NEW DELHI (AP) — India on Wednesday announced an easing of its visa ban on Canadian nationals imposed more than a month ago after Canada alleged that India was involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
India announced that it will resume services for entry, business, medical and conference visas starting Thursday, according to a press release issued by the Indian High Commission in Ottawa. Emergency services will continue to be handled by the Indian High Commission and the consulates in Toronto and Vancouver, it said.
Wednesday’s announcement could ease tensions between the two countries.
A diplomatic spat erupted between them after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in suburban Vancouver in western Canada. Nijjar was a 45-year-old Sikh activist and plumber who was killed by masked gunmen in June in Surrey, outside Vancouver.
For years, India had said that Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, had links to terrorism, an allegation Nijjar denied.
Canada did not retaliate against India’s halting the issuing of new visas for Canadian nationals. India previously expelled a senior Canadian diplomat after Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat.
India has accused Canada of harboring separatists and “terrorists,” but dismissed the Canadian allegation of its involvement in the killing as “absurd.”
The Indian easing of the visa ban Wednesday came days after Canada said it was recalling 41 of its 62 diplomats in India. That decision came after Canada said New Delhi warned it would strip their diplomatic immunity — something Canadian officials characterized as a violation of the Geneva Convention.
The Indian government last week rejected any notion that it violated international law in asking Canada to recall diplomats so that both governments have roughly the same number stationed in each country.
India had not publicly stated it would withdraw diplomatic immunity from the Canadian diplomats, nor did it give a deadline for their departure. But it said it wanted Canada to reduce its number of diplomats in India to match the amount that India has in Canada.
“Resolving differences requires diplomats on the ground,” Matthew Miller, a Canadian State Department spokesman, said in a statement last week. “We have urged the Indian government not to insist upon a reduction in Canada’s diplomatic presence and to cooperate in the ongoing Canadian investigation.”
veryGood! (921)
Related
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Traveling in a Car with Kids? Here Are the Essentials to Make It a Stress-Free Trip
- Deion Sanders makes grand appearance on `The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon
- Michigan suspends defensive line coach Gregg Scruggs following drunk driving arrest
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Shakira Says She Put Her Career on Hold for Ex Gerard Piqué Before Breakup
- Alec Baldwin seeks dismissal of grand jury indictment in fatal shooting of cinematographer
- Sewage seeps into California beach city from Mexico, upending residents' lives: Akin to being trapped in a portable toilet
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Rita Moreno Credits This Ageless Approach to Life for Her Longevity
Ranking
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- A fourth Albuquerque, New Mexico, police officer has resigned amid probe of unit
- Trump campaigns for GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio
- Florida mom tried selling daughter to stranger for $500, then abandoned the baby, police say
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- GOP Kentucky House votes to defund diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public universities
- Life after Aaron Donald: What's next for Los Angeles Rams?
- Love Is Blind's Cameron Hamilton Reveals Why He and Lauren Weren't at the Season 6 Reunion
Recommendation
B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
Deion Sanders makes grand appearance on `The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon
Michigan prosecutor on why she embarked on landmark trials of school shooter's parents
Drinking bird science class toy plays integral role in new clean energy idea, study shows
Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
Is Jason Momoa Irish? 'Aquaman' actor stars in Guinness ad ahead of St. Patrick's Day
Great Value cashews sold at Walmart stores in 30 states recalled, FDA says
Sewage seeps into California beach city from Mexico, upending residents' lives: Akin to being trapped in a portable toilet