November 8, 2024
NEW DELHI – Amid the ongoing chill in India-Canada ties, the Indian Consulate in Toronto announced the cancellation of some of its scheduled consular camps after the Canadian security authorities failed to provide minimum security protection.
In a social media post on X, the Indian Consulate said, “In view of the security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection to the community camp organisers, the consulate has decided to cancel some of the scheduled consular camps.”
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, at a media briefing on Thursday, confirmed that the consular camps had been cancelled by the Indian authorities in Toronto.
“You would have seen the message posted by our consulate in Toronto that they have had to cancel the consular camp that they were planning to organise over the weekend because they did not get adequate security or security assurance from the government. We have a large diaspora in Canada. Many of these people, especially around the month of November and December, need documentation for continuation of their pensions and several other activities here in India.
“So these consulate camps that we do are helpful to the community, to both people of Indian nationality and people who are of Indian origin but Canadian nationals today. I do understand that in other parts of Canada, Vancouver for example, the consular camps will be conducted,” he said.
The spokesperson pointed out that these consular camps are conducted at the request of the community organisations. So wherever the community organisation is comfortable, the Indian authorities will go ahead with the consular camps, he added.
The announcement by the consulate in Toronto comes days after anti-India elements indulged in violence at a consular camp organised by the Indian Consulate at the Hindu Sabha Temple in Brampton.
India registered its protest, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself asking the Canadian government to uphold the rule of law.
The spokesperson also drew attention to the blocking of an Australian social media outlet for Indian diaspora, Australia Today, by the Canadian authorities soon after it showed the press conference of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart in Canberra. The action against the media outlet, he said, reflects Canada’s hypocrisy towards freedom of speech.