The Indian High Commission in Canada said on Wednesday that officials will resume processing certain types of visa applications in Ottawa and at consulates in Toronto and Vancouver.

New Delhi stopped these services a month ago at Indian offices in Canada and for Canadian citizens in other parts of the world.

The High Commission on Wednesday announced the resumption of issuance of business visas, medical visas and conference visas, as well as applications from people with family ties in India. The diplomatic mission did not provide any information about other types of visas.

The Canadian Press on Wednesday confirmed the authenticity of social media posts about the decision and asked, so far without success, whether applications for tourist, student and journalist visas were also being processed by Indian officials.

“This is good news for Canadians,” Canadian Emergency Management Minister Harjit Sajjan responded, emphasizing the “strong people-to-people ties” the two countries enjoy and the importance of facilitating travel for families and businesses.

The minister reiterated calls for “better cooperation” from New Delhi in the investigation into the June killing of a Sikh leader near Vancouver, British Columbia

The resumption of processing applications for what India calls an “entry visa” – which is reserved for “persons of Indian origin” or Indian citizens, their spouses and children – follows online outcry from Canadians who are visiting their loved ones during the busy wedding could not visit this country season.

India last month restricted the issuance of visas after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in the House of Representatives that Canadian intelligence agencies were investigating “credible” information about “a potential link” between the Indian government and the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader in British Columbia last month June.

India stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver on September 21 and eventually also stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens in other parts of the world.

It was not clear from Wednesday’s High Commission release whether Canadians in other countries will now be able to apply for these visas through Indian missions in other parts of the world.

New Delhi claimed in September that its diplomats could not safely go to work in Canada. However, in an interview with The Canadian Press three weeks earlier, High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma said he was “very pleased” with the way Canada had strengthened its protection of Indian diplomats.

The diplomatic mission said it decided to resume processing certain visa services from Thursday “after a careful review of the security situation, taking into account certain current Canadian measures in this regard.” The High Commission notes that “further decisions, if any, would be proposed based on a continuous assessment of the situation.”

Before Mr. Trudeau’s announcement significantly heightened tensions between Canada and India, New Delhi had publicly denounced protests by Sikh separatist groups outside its diplomatic missions in Canada and put up posters apparently offering cash rewards for Indian diplomats’ addresses.

India has officially asked Canada to better fulfill its duty to protect foreign diplomats.

Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said on September 14 that Indian diplomats in Canada “benefit from round-the-clock security” – a service Ottawa offers to very few diplomatic missions.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said late last week that his country was considering easing visa restrictions. “We stopped issuing visas to Canada because it was no longer safe for our diplomats to go to work to issue visas,” he said Sunday.

Minister Jaishankar also criticized the federal Liberals in comments that analysts said represented a departure from New Delhi’s usual rhetoric on Canadian politics.

“The issues we have relate to certain aspects of Canadian politics and the resulting public policies,” Mr. Jaishankar said.

With Agence France Presse

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