Canada’s Transport Minister Anita Anand, citing an “abundance of caution”, announced heightened screening at airports for passengers catching flights to India.
She was quoted as saying that her department “has implemented additional security screening measures” for those travelling to India. “Passengers may experience some screening delays while these measures are in place,” she added.
The new security protocols were announced over the weekend, with Air Canada asking passengers to reach the airport at least four hours before their departure.
Air Canada’s notifications said “Due to heightened security mandates by Transport Canada for all passengers travelling to India, security wait times are expected to be longer than anticipated for your upcoming flight.”
Toronto’s Pearson International Airport acknowledged the new protocols in a post on social media, and warned of “extended wait checks” prior to boarding.
The new security measures come in the wake of a bomb threat last October, targeting an Air India flight from New Delhi to Chicago. The plane had to be diverted to Iqualuit, capital of the Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut. An extensive search turned up nothing and the plane resumed its flight after a delay.
Reports say that incident and threats by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, US-based Khalistani sympathiser and head of the Sikhs for Justice, directed at Air India, had triggered concern and enhanced security checks. Pannun, incidentally, holds US and Canadian citizenship.
But Transport Minister Anita Anand did not attribute the new security protocols to any specific incident or individual.
Pannun had in his Punjabi language video said clearly “Don’t fly Air India after Nov 19, your lives maybe in danger,”
He later clarified that he was only calling for a boycott of the airline and was not issuing any threat. But the Indian High Commission took note and raised the matter with the Canadian government and Transport Canada.
