India to discuss Pannun's threat to Air India with Canadian government, envoy tells

India will discuss with Canadian authorities the threat posed to Air India flights to and from Canada by the separatist organization Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and request increased security for the airline. Gurpatwant Pannun, the general counsel for SFJ, issued the threat in a video that was made public on Saturday. He says to Sikhs in the video, “Don’t fly Air India after November 19, your lives may be in danger,” in Punjabi. Two times, that sentence is said. Pannun demanded a “global blockade” of the aircraft from Vancouver to London in a statement released with the video. Sanjay Kumar Verma, India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa reportedly told an Indian newspaper, “We shall take up the threat against Air India flights originating from and terminating in Canada, with the concerned Canadian authorities.“Air India flies directly to New Delhi several times a week from Toronto and Vancouver in Canada. “We have reviewed the video’s content, which blatantly violates the Chicago Convention, which establishes guidelines for international civil aviation operations. Among many other countries, Canada and India are Parties to the Convention. Verma noted in his answer that such concerns are addressed in the bilateral civil aviation agreement between Canada and India. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) states that 54 countries drafted the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, which established “the core principles permitting international transport by air.” The circumstances leading up to what is still the worst act of terrorism in Canadian history are strikingly similar to the targeting of Air India. Three-hundred and twenty-nine people were killed when Khalistani terrorists bombed Air India flight 182, the Kanishka, on June 23, 1985. Two baggage handlers perished in an explosion at Tokyo’s Narita airport when another plane’s bomb went off. In Canada, the day is still observed as the National Day of Remembrance for Terrorist Victims. Nonetheless, extremist organizations still hold Talwinder Singh Parmar in high regard as the attack’s planner. In fact, supporters of Khalistan held a gathering at the Toronto memorial for the victims of the Air India terror incident in June of this year in honor of him.