India suspends visa services for Canadians indefinitely as tension rise

Tensions have been high since Canadian PM Trudeau on Monday alleged that the Indian government was behind the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Amid rising tension between India and Canada, the Indian government has suspended visa services for Canadian citizens indefinitely, according to several media reports.

There has been no official word from the government, however, the Ministry of External Affairs informed that there will be a briefing at 3:30 pm on Thursday.

This comes after Canadian media reported that Canada is pulling some diplomats out of India. According to National Post, on Wednesday, Jean-Pierre Godbout, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, confirmed that Canada would be bringing some of its staff out of the country.

India on Wednesday issued a travel advisory to its citizens and students contemplating visiting Canada. The ministry of external affairs asked the travelling citizens to exercise extreme caution.

India advised all its citizens living in Canada and those contemplating travelling there to exercise "utmost caution" in view of growing anti-India activities and "politically-condoned" hate crimes in the North American country, as the diplomatic row over the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader threatened to snowball into a major confrontation.

Later, the Canadian government rejected a travel advisory issued by India about security risks in Canada, saying it is one of the safest countries in the world, and called for calm amid the escalating diplomatic row between the two nations over the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader in this country.

This all began after Canadian PM Trudeau on Monday alleged that the Indian government was behind the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

In a statement in the House of Commons in Canada's parliament, Trudeau said 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".

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a Khalistani separatist living in Canada. He was one of India's most wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. Nijjar was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.