Travellers can ‘pack their suitcases’ as India reopens online travel visa processing in Mississauga, Brampton and across Canada

After months of questions and diplomatic tensions, tourists from Mississauga, Brampton and across Canada can apply to visit India.

India’s high commission in Ottawa confirmed on social media that the decision took effect as of Wednesday following a rift between Canada and India in September.

The reversal comes months after India stopped processing visas at its Canadian missions and for Canadian citizens abroad following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comments about “a potential link” between India’s government and the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The 45-year-old was shot by masked gunmen outside a Surrey, B.C., gurdwara in June in what police said was a targeted killing. A prominent member of the Khalistan Sikh sovereignty movement, Nijjar also helped promote the Khalistan referendum in Brampton last year.

The Indian government had accused Nijjar of being linked to terrorism and has also denied involvement in his death, calling the allegations absurd.

Following Trudeau’s comments India released a list of what it calls wanted terrorists and “gangsters,” including Canadian residents and the accused killer of Brampton rapper Sidhu Moose Wala.

Suspending applications led to long lines at the BLS visa application office in Brampton. and left local travel agents rattled by the sudden ramp-up in tensions between the two countries.

“It was such a relief,” said Nazir Karnai, president of Vancouver-based travel agency Explore India Journeys.

“Every day people were checking, ‘Did you hear anything? Did you hear anything?'”

Karnai said many of his clients are planning to attend weddings this winter.

“We’ll be calling people and we’ll be letting them know that now they can pack their suitcases,” he said.

Last month, Canada recalled 41 of its 62 diplomats in India after New Delhi warned it would strip their diplomatic immunity — something Canadian officials said was a violation of the Geneva Convention.

In late October, India began easing the visa restrictions, resuming business, medical and conference visas as well as entry for people with family ties in India.

That entry visa was restricted to “persons of Indian origin” or their spouses or children. There had been uproar online from Canadians who were unable to visit relatives during the country’s wedding season, which began in November.

Restrictions remained in place for tourists, students, journalists and missionaries until Wednesday.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday that he was happy to hear the ban had ended.

“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” he said. “It’s encouraging news for people (who) are looking to travel.”

– With files from The Canadian Press