New Delhi: Hours after announcing the withdrawal of 41 diplomats from India, Canada fired another salvo by updating its travel advisory for India and urging Canadian citizens to be extremely cautious.
“Exercise a high degree of caution in India due to the threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country,” the Canadian government said in a statement.
Canada also advised its citizens to avoid “non-essential” or all forms of travel in certain parts of India.
Canadian citizens have been specifically asked to avoid non-essential travel to Assam and Manipur due to the risk of “terrorism and insurgency.”
Canadians have also been directed to avoid any type of travel to Jammu & Kashmir, and three states that share borders with Pakistan — Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab.
“Avoid all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the unpredictable security situation. There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest and kidnapping,” the advisory stated, adding that travelling to or within Ladakh is, however, excluded.
Canadian citizens have also been discouraged from undertaking all forms of travel to areas within 10 km of India’s border with Pakistan in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab owing to “unpredictable security situation and presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance.”
India and Canada have been embroiled in a diplomatic row over the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that there is credible evidence of Indian agents having a hand in the killing of Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Vancouver, in British Columbia.
India dismissed Canada’s allegation as absurd, and demanded evidence.
