Canada issues India travel warning amid row over Sikh separatist's murder

Canada has warned its citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution” if going to India due to a breakdown in relations between the two countries over the assassination of a Sikh-Canadian leader.

“In the context of recent developments in Canada and in India, there are calls for protests and some negative sentiment towards Canada on social media,” said an update to the Canadian government’s travel advisory on Monday.

“Please remain vigilant and exercise caution.”

Tensions rose between the two countries after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged publicly last week that India was involved in the assassination of a Sikh-Canadian leader outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia in June.

India insisted that Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a terrorist who was part of a militant movement to carve out an independent Sikh state in Khalistan in India’s Punjab region.

Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” that New Delhi was implicated in the murder, which was committed by two masked gunmen. No arrests have been made.

After Trudeau’s accusation, which also called for India to cooperate in an investigation into Nijjar’s killing, Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat.

The Indian government reacted strongly, calling the allegations “absurd,” and in a tit-for-tat move expelled a Canadian representative.

In addition, New Delhi froze visa services for Canadians. The government issued a travel advisory of its own, telling Indian citizens that “in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution.”

In particular, New Delhi said that Indian students in Canada should “exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant.”​​​​​​​

In Canada, Sikh activists are urging Sikh Canadians to demonstrate outside Indian embassies to protest the killing, CTV News reported.

Hundreds of Sikh protest

In the meantime, hundreds of Sikh protesters rallied outside Indian diplomatic missions in Canada on Monday, trampling pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and burning flags a week after Ottawa said New Delhi had played a role in the killing of a prominent Sikh activist.

"We are not safe back home in Punjab, we are not safe in Canada," said Joe Hotha, a member of the Sikh community in Toronto, referring to the murder in June of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver.

"The Indians, they are terrorists, they killed our brother in Vancouver, so that's why we are protesting here," said the Canadian outside of the Indian consulate.

Like other protesters, he carried the yellow flag of Khalistan - an independent state that some Sikhs hope to create in the Indian region of Punjab.

Several hundred people gathered in Toronto but also in Ottawa and Vancouver to denounce Modi's government.

Canada is home to the largest Sikh community in the world outside of India, with 770,000 Canadians professing Sikhism in 2021, or two percent of the country's population.