Air Canada is warning passengers to get to airport at least four hours before scheduled departure for India
Amid continuing tension between New Delhi and Ottawa, passengers travelling from Canada to India will be subjected to extra security screening.
“Transport Canada has implemented temporary additional security screening measures,” Anand said in a statement issued on Monday evening.
In October, an Air India flight bound to Chicago from New Delhi was diverted to Iqaluit because of a bomb threat. An inspection didn’t turn up an explosive device.
However, Anand’s office did not connect that incident with the new measures.
This security announcement comes a month after the RCMP claimed Indian government agents have been complicit in crimes in Canada, including murder, extortion and intimidation. India has denied the RCMP’s allegations and said they were “simply not true.”
Since then, both countries have expelled each other’s top diplomats.
India-Canada ties remain tense due to Canada’s accusation that India was involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was designated by India as a terrorist. India maintains that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan groups operating on Canadian soil, says NDTV.
In November 2023, general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun for the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) released a video warning Sikhs, in Punjabi, “Don’t fly Air India after November 19, your lives may be in danger.”
He said he was “calling for a boycott” of the airline — not issuing a threat, reports the Times.
However, India’s High Commission in Ottawa formally raised the threat with the Canadian government and Transport Canada increased security for Air India flights at Canadian airports.
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