Indian foreign ministry claims ‘security threats’ after Trudeau’s explosive allegation of state-sponsored killing mean it cannot provide visa services safely
India says it is indefinitely suspending visa services in all categories for all Canadian nationals due to “security threats” to its consulates, amid a furious diplomatic row between the two countries.
Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said they have suspended “all categories” of visas, including e-visas and for Canadian citizens applying from third countries.
And India has also moved to downsize the Canadian diplomatic presence in New Delhi, saying that Canada has more embassy workers in its capital than visa versa and that it wants to restore “parity”.
It comes after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of the Indian state’s involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, triggering a furious tit-for-tat row.
I suspect that’s why this is happening. India - like China and Russia - may view its diaspora as an indirect projection of its own power.
It’s not the same for Indians as it is for China. Indians tend to integrate well with western culture and I haven’t seen them bring their politics with them.
In the tech sector you can run into caste-ism (is that the correct word?), where Indians who are “lower” caste can be looked over when applying to jobs if the one going through resumes or making hiring decisions is Indian themselves and a “higher” or at least “different” caste, and can identify at a glance what caste the applicant is by their surname.
It’s apparently popping up enough that it’s on the radar as a discrimination problem in California, which has a big tech sector and I suppose a large enough population in some areas of Indian immigrants for this to start being a problem.
It surprised me at first that anyone was concerned about it–but then I realized…yeah, you kinda want to nip that one in the bud. Given all the existing classism/racism in the US, we hardly need a new one to throw into the mix. And it’s really dumb/disappointing to me that someone might come here from India hoping to start a new life and obviously have to deal with racism already because that never won’t NOT be a thing–only to ALSO run face first into caste-ism from fellow immigrants who drag that crap over with them. What a crappy catch-22, you know? So it seems to me that it’s good that some folk have awareness that it’s a thing to watch out for.
That’s something I haven’t considered.
How? You think Indians move to other countries to make them more like India? Sure as hell isn’t the case with the ones I know.
I said India not Indians
Uh, so? That doesn’t change my question at all.
Well then no. The answer is no.
eh not so sure. China has explicitly tried very hard to portray the west as racist and crime ridden to ensure that their best and brightest who go to foreign schools come home. They then started setting up secret policing in Canada and the US when those efforts didn’t work well.
India has been doing the same, trying to claw back their own and limit the influence of their citizens abroad. Especially cuz those citizens are often educated and wealthy. Saw something in the US about how Indians are, overall, the wealthiest group since there are relatively few of them compared to other minorities, and they’re overwhelmingly in STEM or other lucrative fields.