November 21 :
With Canada's announcement of increased security procedures for aviation passengers flying to India from its many international airports, the gap between New Delhi and Ottawa has become even wider. Anita Anand, Canada's federal transport minister, has launched a number of initiatives meant to improve the safety of travel between the two countries. The speaker notes the importance of exercising extra vigilance and mentions that new measures, which are already in force, may create discomfort and delays due to the introduction of additional security standards.
Please be informed that all Canadian airlines flying to India have been instructed to adhere to the new security protocols. While these procedures are in place, passengers may encounter screening delays," Anand stated. The introduction of stricter security measures for travelers bound for India is nothing new. After the Sikhs for Justice called for a boycott of Air India flights last year, the airline and Canada's aviation security agency, CATSA, implemented multi-tier screening procedures for all passengers boarding planes heading for India.
As previously announced, the CATSA will be responsible for supervising enhanced screening of both passengers' bags and themselves, as is required by law. The additional procedures would cause significant delays and discomfort for travelers by x-raying their carry-on bags, physically inspecting them, and increasing the use of handheld swabs to detect residues of banned substances in their clothing.
The recent instances, according to aviation experts, have forced the strengthening of security standards. One such incident was the diverting of an Air India flight from Delhi to Iqaluit instead of Chicago. Someone was threatening to install a "bomb" on the plane throughout the flight. On the other hand, it was a fraud. It made many worried about flying safely.
By the way, this "bomb hoax" wasn't the only one. There has been an extraordinary spate of such "bomb hoax" calls in the past several months, affecting hundreds of flights and causing trouble, delays, and distress for air passengers. This has affected many Indian airlines, both those operating on the domestic and international sectors. All of the calls were taken seriously by the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Bureau of Aviation Security, but the problem still hasn't been adequately handled after weeks. This "hoax" telephone campaign, thought to have originated from unhappy individuals, has disproportionately affected Air India, Indigo, and a few other Indian carriers.
While India's government has not directly linked its decision to any particular incident in its most recent announcement, the escalating tensions between the two countries are widely believed to be the cause of Canada's "no risk on air security" policy following the trauma it endured in 1985 during the worst air disaster of Kanishka. Relations between the two countries have worsened further as they have adopted "tit for tat" strategies in response to the recent assaults on Canadians and the diplomatic communique in which the Canadian government designated six Indian diplomats as "persons of interest" in connection with these occurrences. The charges and expulsion of diplomats have only served to inflame the situation further.
