India will resume visa services in Canada if...: Jaishankar makes stand clear
S Jaishankar on Sunday said that visa services in Canada will only be restored after the safety of Indian diplomats is ensured. He was addressing the Kautilya Economic Conclave closing plenary session.
«If we see progress in safety of our diplomats in Canada, we would like to resume issuance of visas there,» said EAM Jaishankar.
Jaishankar added that they stopped issuing visas in Canada because of safety reasons.
«Some weeks ago, we stopped issuing visas in Canada because it was no longer safe for our diplomats to go to work to issue visas.
So their safety and security was the primary reason we had to temporarily stop the issue of visas. We're tracking it very closely,» said Jaishankar.
Recently, Canada recalled 41 of its diplomats from India after the Indian government said it would revoke their diplomatic immunity, escalating a spat over the slaying of a Khalistani separatist in Canada.
The moves come after Canada's allegations that India may have been involved in the June killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in suburban Vancouver.
«There's this whole issue of parity that the size of how many diplomats there are of one country versus how many diplomats there are of the other country.
Parity is very much provided for by the Vienna Convention, which is the relevant international rule on this,» said the minister.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, announcing the return of the diplomats on Thursday described the Indian government's action «contrary to international law,» and in violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.
India has already rejected the charge.
Jaishankar said the relationship between India and Canada right now is going through a difficult phase, adding that India only has problems
