India-Canada row: Punjab Congress chief urges MEA to resolve issue as soon as possible

Amidst the India-Canada row, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) President Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday said that the move by the Indian government to suspend visa services for Canadians will badly impact Punjabis who have now taken their citizenship.

He took to social media platform X and urged the government of India to resolve the issue between both countries at the earliest.

“The decision to suspend visa services for Canadians, amid heightened tensions between India and Canada will badly impact Punjabis who have now taken Canadian citizenship. A large number of Indian Diaspora have families living back home including elderly parents & siblings whom they visit during the festive season, hence I appeal to the MEA India to resolve the issue at the earliest,” he said.

The decision to suspend visa services for Canadians, amid heightened tensions between India and Canada will badly impact Punjabis who have now taken Canadian citizenship.

A large number of Indian Diaspora have families living back home including elderly parents & siblings whom… pic.twitter.com/Vqe7KWLogi

— Amarinder Singh Raja Warring (@RajaBrar_INC) September 21, 2023

India halts issuing visas to Canadian citizens

India has declared to stop issuing visas to Canadian citizens amid an escalating row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil. India has stated that the temporary move was due to "security threats" disrupting work at its missions in Canada.

This comes after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday alleged that the Indian government had a connection with the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Who was terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar?

Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India, was killed outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.

Following this, Trudeau during a debate in the Canadian Parliament, claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

Indian government rejects Trudeau's allegations

The Indian government rejected the allegations made by the Ministry of External Affairs which was termed as absurd.

"We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated" the statement said. 

It added, "Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the right hand of the killers who assassinated my grandfather. He went there in 1993 and he got the citizenship...Nijjar and company are out of the 10 most wanted gangsters and drug peddlers...”

(With inputs from ANI)