Bengaluru : Amid a diplomatic row with Canada and India’s move to suspend visa services to Canadian citizens is likely to have triggered concerns among technology companies, professionals and entrepreneurs. While potential new contracts could get delayed, the impact on projects that Indian IT Companies are already implementing there may be limited, since Canada has not halted visa applications by Indians to Canada. If Canada were to also stop visa applications, the implications could be more significant On the whole though, considering the world learnt to work without trael during the Covid pandemic, visa restrictions are unlikely to severely handicap business in the short term.
According to the HR Law dept and other sources said, “The Indian government’s decision implies that investors, entrepreneurs, and techies who are Canadian citizens may not be able to get visas to travel to India. “Technology talent mobility would be adversely affected between the two countries” , they added . They further said, “Decision does not affect those Canadian citizens who have an existing Indian visa or OCI card. It also does not affect Indian citizens to continue to travel to Canada including for family, business, or education purpose” they stated.
Experts with some of the facts said, More than 600 Canadian companies have a presence in India. Over 1,000 Canadian firms have business interests in the country. Major Indian IT giants including Infosys,Wipro and TCS have ongoing commitments in Canada. Large Canadian fund houses have substantially invested in various domains in india. Canada Pension Plan Investment Boad has invested at least Rs 1.7 lakh crore.
India’s apex tech body Nasscom said it is in close touch with its members in Canada and as per their feed back there are not immediate areas of concern. “Since this is an evolving situation, we will continue to engage with stakeholders to track any potential areas of impact that may need supports” they added.
