NEW DELHI: India has suspended visa services for Canadian citizens from Thursday, visa consultancy service provider BLS International said on its website, citing a notice from the Indian mission.
Canada said on Monday that it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has categorically rejected Canada’s suspicions that Indian agents had links to the murder.
BLS International said that the notice from the Indian mission cited “operational reasons” for suspension of visa services “till further notice.”
On Tuesday India expelled one of Canada’s top diplomats, ramping up a confrontation between the two countries.
Canada has yet to provide any evidence of Indian involvement, but if true it would mark a major shift for India, whose security and intelligence branches have long been significant players in South Asia, and are suspected in a number of killings in Pakistan. But arranging the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada, home to nearly 2 million people of Indian descent, would be unprecedented.
India, though, has accused Canada for years of giving free rein to Sikh separatists, including Nijjar.
