India has issued a warning advising its citizens to “exercise utmost caution” when visiting or residing in Canada.
The warning comes a day after tensions between the nations worsened as each country expelled a diplomat from the other.
Canada declared it was looking into “credible allegations” connecting the Indian state to the murder of a leader of the Sikh separatist movement.
India vehemently refuted this, calling the accusations “absurd”.
Analysts claim that after months of tension, ties between the two nations have reached an all-time low.
The warning was issued, according to the foreign ministry of India, on Wednesday “in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada”.
The Indian government has frequently reacted angrily to proposals for Khalistan, or a separate Sikh homeland, made by Sikh separatists in Western nations. With a bloody insurgency based in Punjab state, which has a Sikh majority, the Khalistan movement reached its height in India in the 1980s. Force was used to put an end to it, and while it no longer resonates much in India, some members of the Sikh diaspora in nations like Canada, Australia, and the UK still find it appealing.
The majority of Sikhs outside of Punjab reside in Canada, which has also seen a lot of pro-Khalistan marches and demonstrations. The safety of India’s diplomats in Canada was reportedly the subject of a “formal complaint” made to Canada in June, according to sources.
Delhi claimed in its statement on Wednesday that threats have recently been made against several Indians and its diplomats “who oppose the anti-India agenda”.
Indian nationals are thus urged to stay away from areas and possible locations in Canada that have seen such events, it stated.
