'Students Living In Canada With Valid Visas Or OCIs Are Free To Travel To India': MEA

Amid a diplomatic standoff between India and Canada, the Ministry of External Affairs in India in a press conference on Thursday said that students living in Canada who possess valid visas to India or those who have OCIs are free to travel to India. 

The MEA clarified that "there is no Indian visa issues for Indian students in Canada."

India suspends issuing visas to Canadians "till further notice"

This huge development comes after India suspended issuing visas to citizens of Canada “till further notice.”  A notice by a private agency hired for initial scrutiny of visa application of Canadian nations, BLS International in a state said that “Due to operational reasons ... Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice.” 

This diplomatic standoff comes as India and Canada locked in a row after Ottawa claimed that it has credible allegations that suggest agents of New Delhi are behind the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijajr, a pro-Khalistan Sikh terrorist. However, the Indian government has firmly rejected the allegation as “absurd and motivated” 

It is pertinent to note that it is not yet clear if the suspension of visas is linked to that row or not. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday alleged that the Indian government was behind the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

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

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.

The allegations made by the  Canadian Prime Minister  and foreign minister were rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs in  India.

"We have seen and reject 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.