New Delhi: Exercise caution: Ministry of External Affairs to Indians in Canada

New Delhi : India on Wednesday advised its nationals in Canada and those contemplating to travel there to exercise utmost caution in view of anti-India activities in some parts of that country.

The advisory came amid further deterioration of diplomatic relations between the two countries following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.

"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," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in the advisory. Earlier, the Canadian government issued a travel advisory, asking his citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution".

Terming Trudeau's allegations about India's involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader as "very serious”, a top US official has said that Washington supports Ottawa's efforts to investigate the matter and encourages New Delhi to cooperate. "I'm going to protect diplomatic conversations and I'll leave it at that. Certainly the President is mindful of these serious allegations, and they are very serious. And we support Canada's efforts to investigate this," US National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said.

Another US expert has termed Trudeau's claim of a "potential link" between Indian government agents and the killing of a Khalistani leader a "shameless and cynical action" and urged the United States not be part of it.

The latest diplomatic row will not impact bilateral military engagement and the Canadian Army will take part in the conclave of the Indo-Pacific army chiefs in Delhi next week, Major General Abhinaya Rai said.

BookMyShow cancelled Punjabi- Canadian singer Shubhneet Singh's India tour after the ticket booking app faced a boycott call on social media for hosting a singer who is allegedly a Khalistani sympathiser.

Australia has described Canada's allegations about India's involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader as “concerning” and said Canberra is “monitoring these developments closely” and has raised the issues with its Indian counterparts. These remarks were made by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong at a press conference in the UN Headquarters on Tuesday.