External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that the relationship between India and Canada was “going through a difficult phase”.
Talking about the reduced visa services between India and Canada amid a diplomatic row between the two nations, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that if Indian diplomats are provided safety in Canada as per the Vienna Convention, he would like "very much to resume the issuing of visas".
Jaishankar said, a few weeks ago, India stopped issuing visas in Canada because it was no longer safe for our diplomats to go to work to issue visas.
“Because ensuring safety and security of diplomats is the most fundamental aspect of the Vienna Convention. And right now that is what has in many ways been challenged in Canada that our people are not safe, our diplomats are not safe. So if we see progress there, I would like very much to resume the issue of visas. My hope would be that it would be something which should happen very soon,” he said as quoted by news agency ANI.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar further said that the relationship between India and Canada was going through a “difficult phase”.
“The relationship right now is going through a difficult phase. But I do want to say the problems we have are with a certain segment of Canadian politics and the policies which flow from that,” Jaishankar said days after Canada withdrew 41 of its diplomats from India, leaving only the Canadian High Commission in Delhi to provide visa and consular services.
In September, India asked Canada to downsize its diplomatic staff in the country, arguing that it wanted an equal number of diplomats posted in the country and in Ottawa. The number of Canadian diplomats posted in Delhi was much higher than Indian diplomats in Ottawa.
Diplomatic ties between India and Canada soured after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed there was a “potential link” between the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Indian government. Nijjar was killed in June outside a gurdwara in Canada by two unidentified assailants.
Article source: indiatoday.in
