New Delhi: India has issued an advisory to Indians to “exercise utmost caution” while considering travel to Canada due to the “growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence”.
The advisory was issued Wednesday by the Ministry of External Affairs following relations between India and Canada going into a nosedive after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly announced that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link of Indian government to the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who is described as a Khalistan terrorist by the Indian government.
Canada had expelled a senior Indian diplomat, following which India also asked a Canadian high commission official to leave the country.
“In view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all Indian nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution,” said the MEA advisory.
It went on to say that threats have “targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose the anti-India agenda”. “Indian nationals are therefore advised to avoid travelling to regions and potential venues in Canada that have seen such incidents.”
Addressing a specific demography, the advisory also asked Indian students “in particular” to “exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant” due to the “deteriorating security environment in Canada”.
It also called on Indian nationals and students to register with the appropriate diplomatic missions or the ‘madad’ portal. “Registration would enable the High Commission and the Consulates General to better connect with Indian citizens in Canada in the event of any emergency or untoward incident,” said that statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, some news portals and channels, including ANI and Times Now, had misreported that Canada had issued a new advisory against travel to India. However, as Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair pointed out on X, Canada has been issuing much the same advisory on India for the last few years, and the developments of the last few days have not changed that.
India’s advisory applies to Indian nationals, but Canada is home to a large Indian diaspora. According to the last census in Canada in 2021, people of Indian origin account for around 3.7% of the population. Sikh-Canadians are about 2%.
Canada has around 800,000 international students in Canada, out of which 40% are from India, as per Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data.
As per a Forbes report in March, the number of Indians immigrating to Canada has tripled since 2013.
It reported, as per Canadian government datasets, that Indian immigration ranged between 27,000 and 36,000 per year between 2004 and 2012. But the number of Indians who became permanent residents in Canada rose from 32,828 in Canada to 118,095 in 2022.
Last year, India was at the top of the list in number of legal immigrants to Canada, with China at a distant second at 31,815 persons and Afghanistan at 23,735 persons.