How is the India-Canada fallout over Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder expected to affect Indian students?
India-Canada relations have been unravelling since the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani separatist, but tensions took a sharper turn on Monday when Canada designated Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, IFS, and other diplomats as "persons of interest" in its investigation into the murder. This escalation follows Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's shocking claim in September 2023, when he told Parliament that Canada had evidence implicating Indian government agents in Nijjar's death on Canadian soil. Amid this diplomatic standoff, one overlooked group is the thousands of Indian students in Canada, now facing uncertainty.
How will the India-Canada diplomatic fallout affect Indian students in Canada?
Online reactions have varied widely, with some calling for India to sever all diplomatic ties with Canada and suspend visa services, urging Canada to face the consequences of losing Indian students.?
Others have expressed concern about the challenges India would face in creating jobs for the returning students if Canada decides to send them back.
Yet others have pointed out how Indian students are no longer safe in Canada.
Indian students studying in Canada face an uncertain future
According to data presented in Parliament in August 2024, there are currently around 427,000 Indian students studying in Canada, making up over 41% of the country's international student population.?
Their presence significantly boosts Canada’s economy, but the number of Indian students have already been on a declining trend.
This trend is partly due to Canada’s restrictions on new study permit applications. To control the influx of international students, who accounted for 37% of all study visa holders in 2023, the government set a cap on study permits, projecting around 360,000 approvals in 2024—a 35% decrease from the previous year.
In addition, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that foreign nationals would no longer be able to apply for post-graduation work permits (PGWP) at the border.?
The diplomatic dispute over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar has further complicated matters.?
From October to December 2023, study permits issued to Indian students dropped sharply by 86%, from 108,940 to 14,910.?
This sharp decline came after Canada was forced to pull its diplomats from India, who were responsible for processing these permits, amid the escalating tensions over the Nijjar incident.
With Canada now designating Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, IFS, and other diplomats as "persons of interest" in its investigation into the murder, the situation is likely to escalate further.?
The impact on Indian students remains to be seen, but the fallout is expected to make things even more challenging for them.
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