WITH thousands of Canadians stuck in India, Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel tweeted on Wednesday: “For Canadians wishing to return home who haven’t already provided their details, please send the following to india.consular@international.gc.ca: your full name, passport number, current location, flight info (whether the flight is cancelled or not) and your contact information.”
Charn Sohal tweeted in reply: ” I already sent this information a few days back. At that time they did not ask for our current location. I will re send all the information now with our current location.”
Patel also tweeted: “For #Canadians seeking to return home to Canada, we’re actively seeking solutions to facilitate commercial flights; if we have any new info re: availability of flight options & how to travel to the airport we’ll share it here & via ROCA @CanadainIndia“
Gurpreet Singh Sidhu tweeted in response: “There are more than 15,000 Cdn citizens and Cdn PR stuck in India. Some of us have booked flights next week. If [Indian] govt allows, a lot of Cdns will return [to Canada] next week.”
On Monday, Patel had tweeted: “If you’re [Canadian] in #India, #Nepal, #Bhutan & haven’t already done so, register with our Registration of Canadians Abroad (ROCA) http://Travel.gc.ca/register For consular assistance Email: india.consular@international.gc.ca / sos@international.gc.ca or [phone] +1-613-996-8885 @CanadainIndia.”
Patel later tweeted this clarification: “We will not be able to respond individually to messages containing this information, but we want to know where you are located should flight options become available.”
He also retweeted tweets by Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne: “Between March 23-25, we have received 8907 calls + 25 441 emails at our Emergency Response and Watch Centre in Ottawa. We have also sent 37 984 emails.
“We understand that Canadians want to come home and hundreds of staffers are working around the clock to bring you back safely.”
The minister also tweeted: “ADVISORY TO CANADIAN TRAVELLERS IN INDIA:
“We are aware that the lockdown is making travel difficult for Canadian travellers stranded in #India who want to return home.
“@nadirypatel + officials are all working to assess options to facilitate flights in a complex situation.”
He also tweeted: “We will continue to work on potential options. I have spoken with my counterpart @DrSJainshankar to discuss the situation.
“We will remain in close touch with relevant authorities.”
