Canada deeply regrets the avoidable controversy over denial of visas to Indian nationals. In a statement issued in Ottawa on Thursday, Canadian citizenship and immigration minister Jason Kenney said the letters sent out by Canadian High Commission officials here explaining the grounds for routine visa refusals had cast false
aspersions on the legitimacy of work carried out by Indian defence and security institutions, which operate under the framework of democratic processes and the rule of law.
This language, or the inaccurate impression it has created, in no way reflects the policy or position of the government of Canada. While, under Canadian law, admissibility to Canada is determined by a number of different criteria, candidate assessments should in no way question Indian institutions which operate under the rule of law and within a democratic framework, the minister said in his statement, which was made available here by the Canadian High Commission.
In Bengaluru, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna said Canada has realised its mistake and therefore, let us consider the chapter closed. He explained that India had no quarrel with Canada if it followed due procedure. The Canadian ministers statement came soon after Mr Krishna said on Thursday that the letters issued by the Canadian High Commission to serving or retired officers of India’s security forces and agencies, who had applied for Canadian visa, were entirely unacceptable.
In his statement, the Canadian minister acknowledged that this unfortunate incident has demonstrated that the deliberately broad legislation may create instances when the net is cast too widely by officials, creating irritants with our trusted and valued international allies. For this reason the admissibility policy within the legislation is under active review at this time. The Canadian minister reiterated that his country has the highest regard for India, its government institutions and processes. & Canada values the increasing ties and cooperation with India in the fields of defence, security and counter-terrorism, Mr Kenney noted.