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Canada has issued a new warning for travelers to India after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada had credible evidence linking the killing of a Canadian citizen to the Indian government, a social media post said. This is missing context; Canada did update its travel advice the same day the announcement was made, but government officials said the review was to add detail to the health advice, not to change safety warnings.
The Economic Times posted a photo on Instagram on September 20, 2023 with the text: “Canada issues travel warning to India amid Khalistan dispute” and the photo was liked more than 3,000 times .
Similar posts have appeared on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok claiming that Canada has issued a new travel warning to India due to the “unpredictable security situation” in the country.
Screenshot of Instagram post taken on September 21, 2023
Screenshot of Facebook post taken on September 21, 2023
Hardeep Singh Nijjar wanted by Indian authorities on terrorism charges (Archived here), he denied this. In June, he was murdered by an unknown gunman in Surrey, British Columbia.
On September 18, Trudeau delivered a speech in the Canadian Parliament, saying that the government had credible allegations that Indian agents were related to the death of Canadian citizen Nijar. The Indian government denies involvement.
While some publications seem to suggest that the updated travel warning (archived here) is due to diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, Global Affairs Canada says the updated travel warning is not related to the allegations surrounding Nijjar’s death.
“Many of our Travel Advisory and Advisory (TAA) pages, including the India page, were updated on September 18 as part of pre-arranged and routine maintenance of the Travel Health Information section provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada,” Global Affairs Canada Ministry representative Charlotte Macleod said.
Ahead of Trudeau’s announcement, security warnings about violence and terror in Jammu and Kashmir and near the border with Pakistan appeared on India’s TAA page. Travel advisories for these areas have appeared on Canadian government websites since at least February 2014, according to a review of online archives.
Health Canada also confirmed to AFP that the page was updated on September 18, 2023, to clarify the government’s warnings about hepatitis A and B in the country. India is not the only country offering such health advice.
sikh separatists
khalistani movementIts goal was to establish a homeland for the Sikhs in the Punjab region of India.
After violent clashes between hard-liners and Indian armed forces in the 1980s, the Indian government outlawed the movement and designated several associated groups as “terrorist organizations.”Many of the movement’s current supporters are Sikhs Community Australia, UK and Canada.
Trudeau’s revelations about Nijar’s death led to the expulsion of diplomats from both countries.
Canada has not issued any travel warnings in response to the tensions, but India issued a travel warning to citizens traveling to Canada and said on September 21 that it would suspend visa services to Canada.