Fears India row with Canada threatens work, study plans [Video]

CHANDIGARH, India –

Indians in Punjab, worried that plans to work, study or visit families in Canada will be jeopardized by this week’s tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats over the murder of a Sikh separatist, are urging both governments to reduce the tension.

Canada’s nearly 800,000 Sikhs formed the world’s second largest community in 2021, after roughly 20 million in India. They have links to the northern granary state of Punjab, where their religion was founded more than 500 years ago.

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“Many clients have reached out, worried about how this might affect their plans to migrate to Canada,” said an immigration lawyer, Karan S. Thukral, who is based in the Indian capital, though adding he had seen no big drop yet in legal inquiries.

“Indian students are among those feeling the impact most acutely.”

Indians have made up Canada’s …