Canada Confirms Withdrawal of 41 Diplomats From India, Visa Processing Time to Go Up

New Delhi: Canada on Thursday (October 19) has actually specified that 41 diplomats have actually left India after New Delhi required ‘parity’ over diplomatic representation as it snapped over Ottawa’s accusation of Indian representatives being associated with killing of a Canadian nationwide. As an outcome, Canada will stop the in-person visa services in all 3 consulates at Mumbai, Chandigarh and Bengaluru, while the general visa processing time for Indian nationals will increase. This is most likely Canada’s biggest withdrawal of diplomats from a single nation at one time. Last month, Canada had actually expelled an Indian diplomat after implicating New Delhi of being possibly associated with the killing of Hardeep Singh NIjjar, a Khalistan fan. Madly dismissing the charges, India had actually likewise expelled a Canadian diplomat, stopped all visa services for Canadians and asked Ottawa to reduce the variety of diplomats in line with Indian diplomatic existence. Canadian foreign minister Mélanie Joly stated that India had actually officially interacted its strategy to get rid of diplomatic resistance from the majority of its diplomats by October 20. “This implies 41 Canadian diplomats and their 42 dependents remained in threat of having actually resistances removed. Offered the security ramifications of India’s actions on these Canadian diplomats and their households, Canada has actually facilitated their safe departure from India,” Joly informed press reporters in Ottawa. She likewise stated that the consular group has actually now been significantly minimized. “Five IRCC personnel (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) stay in India and will concentrate on work that needs an in-country existence such as immediate processing, visa printing, threat evaluation and managing crucial partners, consisting of visa application centres, panel doctors and centers that carry out migration medical examinations. The remainder of the work and personnel will be reassigned throughout our worldwide processing network.” According to Canadian media reports pricing estimate unnamed authorities, the variety of Canadian personnel who will handle consular work has actually been reduced from 27 to 5. They examine applications not simply from India, however likewise Nepal and Bhutan. Canadian authorities specified that 45% of Canada’s global trainees, 27% of brand-new irreversible homeowners and 22% of momentary foreign employees originate from India. Mentioning that Canada will be required to stop briefly all in-person services in the consulates, Joly included, “Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will continue to accept and process applications from India. Specific application requirements will require to be finished in your area or on-site in a protected environment. As an outcome, the decrease in the size of the IRCC group will impact service requirements for locals of India.” Canadian media had actually previously reported that India had actually offered a due date of October 10 for downsizing its embassies, however that due date passed with no modification. India had me
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