NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday issued a travel advisory for its nationals in Canada following a diplomatic row over the murder of a Canadian Sikh activist.
The Indian advisory follows Canada raising its alert level for its citizens travelling to India.
“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,“ India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated further after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week accused India of involvement in the murder of an Indian-origin Sikh community leader.
“Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,“ Trudeau told parliament on Monday.
Nijjar, who was head of a gurdwara and vocal supporter of the separatist Khalistan movement, was shot dead on June 18 in Surrey city in the province of British Columbia.
India has rejected Canada’s accusations.
“Allegations of Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,“ the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.
Trudeau says he does not want to escalate tensions with India more but asked New Delhi to cooperate in the murder investigation.
“The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness,“ he said on Tuesday.-Bernama
