Toronto: As a result of the ban, Indian students and family-class returnees are taking indirect routes to reach Canada, costing them $4,000-$6,000 per person.
They are travelling to Canada via Mexico, the Maldives, Doha, Belgrade and Cairo, where they stop for two to 10 nights before taking a Covid test and boarding onward flights.
The Canadian government said that passengers coming from India "via an indirect route will continue to be required to obtain a valid Covid-19 pre-departure test report from a third country -- other than India -- before continuing their journey to Canada".
The Canadian authorities suspect that travellers from India are using fake documents about Covid vaccination.
As direct flights from countries such as Pakistan continue to land here, many in the Indo-Canadian community see the ban as a discriminatory move against India.
Indo-Canadian aviation expert Hemant Shah said Canada's decision is guided by political reasons.
"Why only India? When you talk about human rights, why this discrimination against India when Indo-Canadians are a major part of Canada's workforce, and Indian students pump billions into Canada's economy," he asked.
Satish Thakkar, chairman of the Canada-India Foundation, said the ban has created a lot of confusion in the community because Covid cases are coming down in India even as other countries show signs of an uptick.
19/08/21 IANS/DT Next
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