India resumes e-visa service for Canadian nationals

Two months after suspending visa facility following a diplomatic spat with Canada triggered by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claim that his government has intelligence linking New Delhi with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, India on Wednesday said that it has resumed e-visa service for Canadian nationals.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said, "Regarding e-visa, first of all it has nothing to do with the G20 meeting. What had happened was we had temporarily suspended visa issuance because the situation in Canada made it difficult for our diplomats... like going to office and doing the necessary work for processing visas.

"As the situation there has become more secure or relatively improved, I think we have found it possible for the visa services to progressively resume and you know, physical visas had started in many categories," the minister said.

"So, at that time itself we had said we will be looking at e-visas next. I think it was a logical consequence of that," he added.

Diplomatic relations between India and Canada hit rock bottom after Trudeau in September claimed that his government has intelligence linking New Delhi with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June this year.

Subsequently, both nations removed an envoy each and later New Delhi asked Canada to recall more than 40 of its diplomats posted in the country, to maintain diplomatic parity.

India said this was done owing to repeated interference in its internal affairs by Canada and to cut down a huge number of diplomatic presence of Canadian diplomats in the country.

India had rejected claims by the Canadian government that it had an involvement in the killing of Nijjar, as it dubbed the charges as "absurd and motivated".