Congress Thursday disapproved of Canada denying visa to several serving and retired military personnel, pointing out that these people were not part of any vigilante or illegal group.
"They (those denied visas) were not part of any vigilante or illegal group. They were members of an organisation constituted by an Act of Parliament," party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters here.
He said both Canada and India are big democratic countries and the Canadian High Commission and India would not want a situation where there is a "reaction" and the close
relationship between the two nations is affected.
The Canadian High Commission, over the last few years, has denied visas to a number of senior serving and retired officials of the armed forces and intelligence establishment, claiming that their organisations or they themselves have served in sensitive areas like Jammu and Kashmir and engaged in violence and human rights violations.
The issue has sparked an outrage with Indian Home Secretary G K Pillai writing a letter to Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, insisting that the MEA should act tough and seek apology from the High Commission and withdrawal of the officials who made adverse comments against the security forces.