Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had said on Tuesday that the external affairs ministry had taken up the matter of visa denial “immediately and appropriately” with the Canadian high commission and the Canadian government.
Ms Rao had further said: “Of course, the Canadian foreign minister has, in a public statement, stated that Canada has the highest regard for India’s democratic institutions and processes, and also respect for India’s armed forces and related institutions. But let me once again say that we did take up the matter, we expressed our serious concern, and we continue to take this matter very seriously.”
Among the retired Army officers refused a visa was Lt. Gen. (retd) A.S. Bahia, who is now a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal in Chandigarh. He was refused a visa in this month. The Canadian contention was that he had served in a sensitive location of Jammu and Kashmir.
The official further said, “S.S. Sidhu, a retired IB officer, was denied visa on March 26, with the Canadian high commission saying that he belonged to the “inadmissible” class of persons. The letter written to Mr Sindhu by the high commission of Canada said that he could not be given visa as he had served in an organisation like IB and that led to apprehension that he could engage in an act of espionage or subversion, or terrorism, that would endanger to the security of Canada.” Mr Sidhu wanted to go to Canada to see the new house of his son.
“Decisions on visa applications are made by public servants following an independent process governed by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act [and] I would like to stress that Canada has the highest regard for India’s democratic institutions and processes. Canada has great respect for India’s armed forces and related institutions. We are reviewing the situation. Due to privacy reasons, we cannot comment further,” Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Canada’s foreign minister Lawrence Cannon, had said in an email statement sent to this newspaper.