Foreign Ministry reports on reduction of diplomatic presence in India
Canada followed the urgent request of the Indian government.
On October 3, the Narendra Modi government requested that Canada reduce its diplomatic presence in India. Today, External Affairs Minister Melanie Joly held a press conference to report that this demand has been met, with more than 40 diplomats leaving the country, with only 21 remaining in Delhi so far. Services for Canadian citizens at the consulates in Chandigarh, Bangalore and Mumbai have now been suspended.
The Ministry of Immigration has also reduced the number of its staff from 27 to 5. The Indian Department of IRCC will continue to accept applications, but the reduction in staff will affect processing times. The following services will be affected:
- responses to inquiries;
- issuing visas and passports;
- total processing time.
At the moment, the vast majority of applications from India are already being processed outside the country. 5 Ministry staff will focus on work requiring in-country presence: processing urgent applications, visa printing, risk assessment and supervision of key partners.
Canada continues to emphasize that strained relations with the Government of India will not affect the strong ties with Indian citizens. They continue to be welcome in the country regardless of the purpose of their visit — tourism, study, work or immigration.
A sharp phase of conflict between the Canadian and Indian authorities was triggered by Justin Trudeau's September 18 statement. The Prime Minister accused the Modi government of involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
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