How the India-Pakistan conflict has affected one Canadian family

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India appear to be on the brink of war following a deadly tourist attack in Kashmir. Abigail Bimman reports.

With fears that the conflict between India and Pakistan will turn into a full-scale war, a Canadian couple from the two countries is on edge.

Harman Singh and Sadaf Iqbal, who live in Brampton, Ont., with their three children, say they’ve been calling their families in India and Pakistan. This comes after fighting between the two nuclear-armed countries intensified, following the mass killing of 26 tourists, mostly Indian, in Indian-controlled Kashmir last April, The Associated Press reported.

India blamed Pakistan for the killings, but Pakistan denied the allegations.

“We both have families back home and to be honest we’re worried about them,” Singh, a Sikh originally from India, said in a video interview with CTV News on Wednesday, noting his family lives in the northern state of Punjab near Pakistan. “The situation right now is not too good, pretty tense, especially where my family is. They’re not too far from where these attacks were happening.”

Iqbal, a Muslim whose parents, relatives and close friends are in Pakistan, said she told Singh she thinks his parents should come to Canada immediately, but the idea became impossible shortly after, when flight operations at some Indian airports closed because of the conflict.

Iqbal says she spoke with her loved ones Tuesday night.

“They said right now, the situation is a bit under control but again it can escalate,” Iqbal told CTV News. “They are stressed about the situation because they are not far away from the border, they are close to Punjab.”

Iqbal said she heard people in Pakistan are practicing drills in case war breaks out, with Singh adding he hopes the conflict won’t escalate to that point.

The Canadian couple says they feel fortunate to live in Canada, away from the conflict in their homelands and where they have the opportunity to build their life together.

Iqbal said if they were back in their homelands, they would not be together because of their religious and cultural differences. A high percentage of Indians say it is “very important” to stop women and men in their community from marrying outside their religion, according to a Pew Research Center survey published in 2021.

“It’s all about love,” Iqbal said, noting she and her husband are teaching their children to embrace people regardless of their background. “At end of the day we all are human beings. … you have to be with the person who you love.”

The couple hopes the lessons they’re sharing can extend to their home countries.

“Right now, we pray both neighbour countries will come to the table,” Singh said. “We’re both pretty sad about the people who lost their innocent lives in both countries.”

Amid the desire for peace, one expert is raising alarm about the conflict getting worse as both India and Pakistan have nuclear capabilities.

South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman says the “escalation risks” could swiftly increase.

“These are two strong militaries that, even with nuclear weapons as a deterrent, are not afraid to deploy sizeable levels of conventional military force against each other,” Kugelman told The Associated Press.

With files from CTV’s Kristen Yu