This Windsor man wants to visit India. With visa services suspended, plans are up in the air

A Windsor man hoping to visit India in the near future says he's in shock after the Indian government suspended visa services in Canada Thursday.

The move comes amid growing tensions between Canada and India after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday alleged Indian government involvement in the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader.

"I don't know how to react, actually it's just such an abrupt development," said Tirupati Bolisetti, president of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre of Windsor. "We don't know how to react."

Visas to India, including tourist, entry, student and employment visas, are issued by a company called BLS. The centre has locations in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, but no location in Windsor — typically meaning Windsorites would have to travel to the BLS centre in another city, which was already a hurdle for many, Bolisetti said.

But in a statement Thursday, BLS said operations were suspended until further notice and did not provide additional details.

It's been eight years since Bolisetti visited India. He says he was hoping to visit family, with the time between visits already lengthened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bolisetti had been looking at tickets and starting to plan a trip for this fall when visa services were put on pause.

Now, he said, his plans are up in the air.

"After so many years, I was planning to go this fall," he said. "I'm still in a shock as to how to react."

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, walks past Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. Trudeau said that Canada wasn't looking to escalate tensions, but asked India on Tuesday, Sept. 19, to take the killing of a Sikh activist seriously after India called accusations that the Indian government may have been involved absurd. (Sean Kilpatrick/Associated Press)

Bolisetti said he's heard from others in similar situations: people who have visas and are unsure of whether they can travel, and people whose visa paperwork was being processed and is now in limbo.

The temple has also been in contact with Windsor police in anticipation of any protests.

But, Bolisetti says, whatever happens between governments it's "common citizens" who get stuck in the middle.

Trudeau told Parliament on Monday that there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the assassination of Sikh independence activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had been wanted by India for years and was gunned down outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., on June 18.

India on Thursday continued to call the allegations being investigated in Canada absurd and an attempt to shift attention from the presence of Nijjar and other wanted suspects in Canada.

Canada and India have each expelled a diplomat from their respective countries.

Speaking in New York on Thursday, Trudeau sidestepped questions about whether Canada would match India's move on visa processing and repeated his call for the Indian government to do more to get to the bottom of the matter.

"We call on the government of India to work with us, to take seriously these allegations and to allow justice to follow its course," he said.