India resumes issuing Canadians visas after row over killing of Sikh

NEW YORK - India on Wednesday said it would restart issuing some visas to Canadians after suspending the service in September over the killing in British Columbia of a Canadian citizen who was a Sikh separatist.

"After a considered review of the security situation that takes into account some recent Canadian measures in this regard, it has been decided to resume visa services" for entry, business, medical and conference visas, the High Commission of India in Ottawa said in a statement, reported Xinhua.

"Emergency situations will continue to be addressed by the High Commission and the Consulates General as it is being done currently," the statement said.

"Further decisions, as appropriate, would be intimated based on continuing evaluation of the situation."

India in September had stopped issuing visas to Canadians citing "security threats faced by our embassy and consulates in Canada".

Relations between the two countries have been at a low point after Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of the targetted killing of a Canadian citizen - accusations which India rejected as "absurd" and politically motivated.

The Canadian citizen killed was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a well-known advocate of an independent state for people of the Sikh religious community on India's territory. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead in June in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.

Indian authorities had been searching for the man for a long time, having accused him of terrorism.

Earlier in October, 41 Canadian diplomats left India at New Delhi's request because of concerns about "continuous interference" in the country's affairs, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported. - BERNAMA-XINHUA