Canada With New Travel Advisory Amid Khalistan Row

The Canadian government issues a travel advisory asking their citizens to avoid travelling to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir ‘due to unpredictable security situations’. The travel advisory was updated on Tuesday.

“There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest and kidnapping. This advisory excludes travelling to or within the Union territory of Ladakh,” Canada said in the updated travel advisory.

Tensions escalated between India and Canada after Canadian Prime Minister alleged the involvement of Indian government in the killing of Khalistani separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. But the claim was immediately rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs by calling it ‘absurd and motivated’.

“Allegations of Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected,” the statement released said.

Justin Trudeau on Tuesday demanded that India to treat this issue with utmost seriousness.

“We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate, we are simply laying out the facts as we understand them and we want to work with the government of India. It is extremely serious, and it has far-reaching consequences in international law… We”re going to remain calm. We are going to remain grounded in our democratic principles and values. We are going to follow the evidence and make sure, the work is done to a whole people,” Trudeau said, reports Reuters.

In the travel advisory issued, Canada has included a statement asking the citizens to avoid travel to border areas of Pakistan in the states of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan.

“Avoid all travel to areas within 10 km of the border with Pakistan in the following states due to the unpredictable security situation and presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance,” says the statement. But the advisory had excluded the Wagah border crossing.

Nijjar, head of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, Canada, was murdered in June this year. He was shot dead on the premises of Gurdwara. Nijjar was the chief of the separatist organisation Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). The Indian government declared Mr.Nijjar a terrorist in 2020 as he was “involved in exhorting seditionary and insurrectionary imputations and also attempting to create disharmony among different communities in India.”