Canada Lifts Extra Security Screening For Travelers To India: Report – News18

Last Updated:November 22, 2024, 12:37 IST

Canada has reportedly lifted the temporary extra security screenings for travelers to India, it implemented as a precautionary measure amid diplomatic tensions.

Passengers from Canada to India will no longer be required to undergo enhanced security screening imposed earlier this week, a report with Canadian Broadcaster CBC suggests.

In a statement to the broadcaster, Federal Transport Minister Anita Anand said the extra screening measures have been lifted.

On November 20, Canada, amid diplomatic tensions with India, said it had enhanced its security screening for passengers travelling to India, citing “an abundance of caution”.

“Transport Canada has implemented temporary additional security screening measures for travellers to India out of an abundance of caution,” Anand had told CBC News.

She had also said that passengers “may experience some screening delays while these measures are in place.”

This came following a bomb threat on board an Air India flight from New Delhi to Chicago in October. The plane was diverted to Iqaluit in Canada and no explosive device was found after an inspection.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), the agency in charge of screening passengers and their luggage before they enter restricted areas of airports in Canada, would carry out the additional measures, the report had stated when the measures were announced.

Hand swabs to detect traces on individuals, sending carry-on bags through X-ray machines, and conducting physical screenings of passengers, are included in the CATSA’s screenings.