[Reader-list] Canada says it respects India's armed forces

[Pawan Durani]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Now-Canada-says-it-respects-Indias-armed-forces/articleshow/5963532.cms
<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Now-Canada-says-it-respects-Indias-armed-forces/articleshow/5963532.cms>
NEW DELHI: Strong public outrage and official protests by India over
rejection of a former BSF jawan's visa application on the grounds that the
paramilitary force was "notoriously violent" and tortured suspected
criminals has forced a turnaround by the Canadian foreign office.

On Saturday, the Canadian authorities clarified that the country has "great
respect'' for India's armed forces and that it was "reviewing the
situation'' with regard to the denial of visa to the former BSF constable.

Canada's foreign ministry spokesperson Catherine Loubier said in an e-mail
statement, "I would like to stress Canada has the highest regard for India's
democratic institutions and processes. Canada has great respect for India's
armed forces and related institutions."

She added that the "vibrant people-to-people'' connections were one of the
greatest strengths of India-Canada relations which continue to be
strengthened.

Sources said India had lodged a strong protest with the Canadian High
Commission against the remarks of its first secretary that referred to BSF
as a "notoriously violent'' force which indulged in "systematic attack'' and
"systematic torture'' of suspected criminals. The diplomat had made the
comments while rejecting the visa application of retired BSF constable Fateh
Singh Pandher.

Loubier added, "We are reviewing the situation'' but did not elaborate
citing "privacy reasons''. She said India was a country with growing
influence on the global stage and "our past has been marked by friendship
and by strong ties that bind us closer than ever. We are also democratic
nations that are ethnically, spiritually and linguistically diverse.''

She noted the Indo-Canadian community is approximately one million strong
and makes significant contributions to the strength of Canada's economy as
well as to people-to-people links between "our two countries". Canada-India
ties continue to strengthen following the successful visit to India by a
delegation led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper last November, she said.

With regard to visas, Loubier said decisions are made by public servants
following an independent process governed by the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act.

Meanwhile, the retired BSF constable who was denied visa by the Canadian
High Commission, told news agencies that he had approached the PMO in March
seeking his intervention.

Pandher, who is from Ludhiana district, applied for permanent immigration in
2005 as his only daughter is a Canadian citizen and is settled there along
with her family. After submitting his application, he had once been to
Canada on a tourist visa.

In its rejection letter to the former BSF trooper, the Canadian High
Commission alleged the BSF was "responsible for committing crime against
humanity" and he was a part of it.