Amidst an ongoing diplomatic dispute between India and Canada, visa services for Canadian nationals have been suspended until further notice, as announced by BLS International, an online visa application center in India that provides visa consultancy services. The notice posted on their website reads: “Important notice from Indian Mission: Due to operational reasons, Indian visa services have been suspended as of 21st September 2023, until further notice. Please continue to check the BLS website for updates.”

These developments transpired just three days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made allegations of a potential connection between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in June.

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, during an address to Parliament, asserted that Indian agents were responsible for the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force. Trudeau stated that his country’s national security officials had grounds to believe that “agents of the Indian government” were involved in the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also held the position of president at Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

Trudeau remarked, “Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.”

In response to Canada’s allegations, India has firmly rejected them, describing them as “absurd” and “motivated.” The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued an official statement expressing India’s rejection of the Canadian Prime Minister’s statement made in their Parliament, as well as the statement by their Foreign Minister.