Indian Mission in Canada withdraws Visa suspension notice

Ottawa: The Indian Mission in Canada has announced the resumption of visa services for Indian nationals and students in Canada. This decision follows the removal of a previous notice on the BLS International website, which had temporarily suspended visa services for operational reasons.

BLS International Services Limited, an Indian outsourcing service provider for government and diplomatic missions worldwide, manages various services, including visa, passport, consular, attestation, and citizen services.

Indian nationals and students in Canada were previously advised to exercise caution, with specific warnings against travelling to regions and venues in Canada that had witnessed anti-India activities. This advisory was issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in India.

Indian students in Canada, in particular, were urged to exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant in light of recent developments. The heightened advisory came in the wake of strained relations between India and Canada following allegations made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Prime Minister Trudeau had alleged in a Canadian Parliament debate that the Indian government was involved in the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist in India. Nijjar was gunned down outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18.

During his statement, Trudeau claimed that Canada's national security officials had reason to believe that "agents of the Indian government" were responsible for Nijjar's killing. Nijjar had also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

However, these allegations made by the Canadian Prime Minister and foreign minister were swiftly rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs in India, which labelled the statements as absurd and motivated.