India cancels several consular camps in Canada amid diplomatic row, says it was denied minimum security against threats

Following the Canadian authorities’ inability to provide even “minimum security against heightened threats”, the Consulate of India in Toronto has canceled other consular camps in the country, an official statement said on Thursday.

“Due to the continued inability of security agencies to provide minimum security against heightened threats, the Consulate has been forced to cancel other consular camps. Most of them were not in any place of worship, including one at a police station,” Consulate General of India. of Toronto said in an official statement.

The latest move comes days after The Indian High Commission in Canada has decided to cancel some of the planned consular camps after Khalistani mob attacks on two such camps in Brampton and Surrey on November 2 and 3.

“The consulate is fully sensitive to the difficulties faced by the nearly 4,000 elderly members of the diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area, both Indian and Canadian nationals, who have been deprived of essential consular service,” the statement added.

On November 2, a The Khalistani mob entered the premises of the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton and attacked the devotees there. The temple was organizing the consular camp, and the Ontario Provincial Peel Police failed to protect and act against the Khalistani attackers.

Sikhs for Justice, a banned pro-Khalistani group, said its supporters were protesting the presence of Indian consular officials who had come to assist in administrative services.

The Indian High Commission was providing essential services to Indian-Canadians who were targeted by anti-Indian forces.

Following those attacks on the Indian-Canadian community in Brampton, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that consular services faced a setback due to security concernsalso expressing the hope that the camps will continue in other cities.

Diplomatic ties between India and Canada deteriorated rapidly after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were involved in the murder plot of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Sing Nijjar last September.

India vehemently rejected these allegations and hit out at the Trudeau administration, accusing it of indulging in appeasement policies and straining India-Canada bilateral relations.