Diplomatic thaw: India resumes e-visas for Canadians two months after Trudeau pointed at New Delhi for Nijjar murder

After two months of pause, India Wednesday resumed e-visa services for Canadian nationals.

India suspended its visa service in Canada on 21 September, citing “operational reasons”.

“Important notice from Indian Mission: Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice. Please keep checking BLS website for further updates,” read a notification on the official website of ‘India Visa Application Center Canada’,” BLS International, a visa application centres in Canada, posted the message in September on its Canadian website.

The suspension of visa service in Canada came amid the heightened tensions between both the countries and diplomatic expulsions after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claimed that “agents of the Indian government” were involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023.

Also Read: India indefinitely suspends visa services for Canadians amid heightened tensions

Trudeau had said the Canadian government was investigating “credible allegations” that Indian government agents were linked to the 18 June slaying, when Nijjar (a Canadian citizen) was gunned down outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia.

The Canadian PM remark heightened the tensions and triggered a diplomatic row and tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats over the week.

The Indian government has repeatedly and firmly denied “absurd” and “motivated” allegations that it was involved in the death of Nijjar, and has demanded Ottawa share evidence to back its claims.

Nijjar was gunned down in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara that he headed in the town of Surrey in the province of British Columbia. He was the principal figure of the secessionist outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) in the province.