The head of the Eastman Indo-Canadian Cultural Society says the local Indian population has been keeping a close eye on relations between Indian and Pakistan for the last few weeks.

Mitesh Kumar says escalation between the two nations began back in the middle of February when 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed by a group of Terrorists from Pakistan near the border. He says he actually in India recently to pick up his parents and left India to return back to Steinbach on the same day as the attack.

"If I was still there after the 14th, even a few days after, definitely I would have to at least plan my routes differently because the airlines which I flew took the route over Pakistan. Both airspaces are volatile in certain regions and I definitely would have been forced to change some of my plans if I had stayed a little longer there."

An Air Canada flight headed to New Dehli was forced to turn back to Canada on Wednesday when Pakistan closed their airspace.

Kumar says the Government of Canada has issued guidelines for traveling to India with current conditions and highlights a few areas where Canadians are encouraged to temporarily avoid. He notes with tensions high, many Indian people in southeastern Manitoba are closely watching the news.

"Regardless if they are citizens of India or if they are living there or not, they have all their families, they can't bring everyone here so they are obviously worried about their safety. Everyone to the best I know is tuned up with the news, things have been changing in the last two days very fast so all of this will raise nerves among the people living here."

The Indo-Canadian Cultural Society estimates there are approximately 100 to 150 people from India and the surrounding countries in the Southeast.

Kumar says nobody wants a war-like situation and they are all hoping things calm down quickly.

Read more: Indo-Canadian Cultural Society Forms In The Eastman Region