India-Canada row: India cancels consular camps in Toronto as security agencies ‘failure to provide minimum security’

Amid ongoing diplomatic tensions, the Indian Consulate in Canada has canceled planned consular camps for issuance of life certificates to applicants.

The Consulate General of India in Toronto said in a statement on November 7 that the Indian Consulate in Canada canceled the camps after security agencies informed the camp organizers that they “failed to provide minimum security protection”.

The move comes just days after a series of violent attacks by Khalistani extremists on consular camps in Brampton, Surrey and Vancouver. The latest attack took place in Brampton on November 3, during regular consular work to issue native resident certificates to Indian and Canadian applicants.

A life certificate is an important document to ensure the continuation of a person’s retirement.

The Indian High Commission in Ottawa blamed ‘anti-India elements’ for the violence outside the consular camp, organized jointly with the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton.

Large numbers of the Indian Sikh diaspora were present when the attack was carried out outside by Khalistani extremists carrying Khalistani flags in the hall inside the camp at the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton.

Attempts had previously been made to disrupt similar camps held in Vancouver and Surrey on November 2.

“It is deeply disappointing to see such disruptions allowed in routine consular work, which is organized by our consulates with the full cooperation of local regulators. We are also very concerned about the safety of applicants, including citizens of India, at whose request such events are organized in the first place. Despite these efforts by anti-India elements, our Consulate was able to issue more than 1,000 life certificates to Indian and Canadian applicants…” the High Commission had said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “deliberate attack” outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir and called for justice from the Trudeau government. “I strongly condemn the deliberate attack on a Hindu temple in Canada. The cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats are equally appalling. Such acts of violence will never weaken India’s resolve. We expect the Canadian government to ensure justice and uphold the rule of law,” he wrote on X (officially twitter).

External affairs minister S Jaishankar called the attack “deeply worrying”.

Speaking in the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament on November 6, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the communities provoking violence were neither the Sikh community nor the Hindu community in Canada, and did not underline that Khalistani separatists also played a role in the attacks. .