Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in a fix. His attempt to nail India down on grounds of “foreign interference” in his country, has turned into a full-blown diplomatic war between Canada and India with their mutual relationship reaching its lowest ebb.
Canada has a large population of Sikhs and people of Indian origin and Trudeau’s remarks may have been aimed at them primarily to bolster his sagging electoral prospects but to say in Canadian Parliament that Indian agents were according to intelligence sources allegedly involved in the murder of a Khalistani terrorist in British Columbia, is a direct attack on India.
If not proven true, Canada cannot just say “sorry” and things would be normal again. The relationship between both countries has already taken a nosedive and continues to spiral out of control.
Even though Trudeau said that he had shared weeks ago with India the details available about the “credible allegation” being made, India had outrightly dismissed it calling it, “absurd and motivated.”
With India and the Modi government being painted black it behoves the Trudeau government to come out with more facts and evidence to substantiate the shocking claim being made. This had however not been forthcoming.
Despite the fact that Trudeau had later said “We are there to work constructively with India. We hope that they engage with us so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious matter”.
The damage has already been done by tarnishing the name of India in the international arena.
Clearly, Trudeau could have dealt with the whole issue more diplomatically using back-channel networks rather than coming out strongly against India in a statement in Canadian Parliament making India look like a rogue country.
The whole issue was the murder of the 45-year-old terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June who incidentally had been given a Canadian citizenship. He was the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara a temple in Surrey, British Columbia, and killed on June 18, 2023, in the parking lot of the Gurdwara by two masked men.
The whole question is how do people designated as terrorists by India get citizenship in Canada. A fact that is a constant irritation for India.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made a point that the US wanted to see “accountability” over the killing. Naturally, the US cannot stand as a mute spectator to any kind of extra-judicial killing taking place by any government agent of one country in another country.
While one must remind the US that India has officially denied any role in the killing, one must always remember that US forces too were involved in finishing off in Pakistan, terrorist Osama bin Laden supposed to be the brain behind the Twin Tower attack in US.
At that time US not only threatened but fulfilled its promise of flushing out the terrorists responsible wherever they may be hiding.
Clandestinely countries do carry out these hit-jobs in other countries though no one is going to accept or talk about it openly. But to charge India which has a clean record and image with this kind of activity without proper evidence which is still lacking can land Trudeau in trouble.
It is important also to note that Canada has not been able to get the kind of support it looked forward to from its alliance countries like the US, UK, New Zealand, and Australia. They just expressed deep concern and that the rule of law must be followed but did not one came out with a strict condemnation of the act which perhaps Ottawa hoped.
Before damning India they would like the investigation to be over which was still continuing.
Australian PM has pointed out that India is part of the Indo-Pacific region where Australia seeks “strategic equilibrium”.
Clearly, they would not like to rock the equilibrium in Indo-Pacific where India too has a stake, by antagonising India.
Canada and Australia along with the U.S., U.K., and New Zealand are members of the Five Eyes Alliance, an alliance for the sharing of intelligence.
To accuse India of complicity in the assassination of the Sikh terrorist can prove very costly for Canada as a number of forthcoming trade agreements between India and Canada are affected by the souring of relations.
Secondly one has to take into account the large diaspora of Indians particularly Sikhs residing in Canada and any worsening of relations will directly be affecting them.
One also must remember that unlike the US which has extradited Kahlasitani activists to India from its soil openly declaring it is not going to allow anti-India or pro-Khalistani activity from its soil, as far as Canada is concerned it has still to demonstrate its willingness to take strict actions against pro-Khalistani elements.
Trudeau’s point is that “any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.”
A US official is reported to have said that when you talk of Nijjar on grounds of human rights you are not talking of any ordinary person but a designated terrorist.
The diplomatic row so far has resulted in the expelling of senior diplomats from both sides.
India’s request for severe action against the so-called Khalistani terrorists was not heeded by the Trudeau government.
With growing India-US closeness even though Canada is an old ally of the USA, given a choice the US is more likely to choose India rather than Canada as a partner because of its strategic and geo-political importance in view of containing China in the Indo-Pacific region.
US friendly to both Canada and India felt it important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation.
India on its part does resent the fact that in the name of freedom of speech and expression Canadian authorities seem to have been lenient toward the so-called pro-Khalistani elements in Canada and did not do enough to put a stop to hate crimes and criminal violence instigated by pro-Khalistani elements.
India has on its part suspended visa services on account of security threats in Canada.
The Indian Foreign Ministry has asked Canada to downsize its diplomats in India since their presence is larger than what India has in Canada.
While charges and counter charges continued from both sides, India and Canada have issued travel advisories and expelled senior diplomats.
India has asked its citizens living in or travelling to Canada to exercise caution in view of “growing anti-India activities”.
What irks India is that Canadian politicians were also sympathetic to pro-Khalistani elements.
The matter came up in meeting at the sidelines of Delhi G20 summit of Modi and Trudeau and Modi clearly pointed out that India was not happy over the fact that Khalistan supporters attacked Indian diplomatic missions in Canada.
Canada had postponed a trade mission to India, planned for October.
There were threat posters for Indian diplomats in Canada.
The moot question was how come those designated as terrorists by India were given Canadian citizenship. It clearly showed that Canada was unconcerned about the concerns of India.
Many feel that Trudeau is more prompted by his short term political benefits rather than long term relationships with a country like India.
The Canadian position may sound nice but is clearly not acceptable to India. Prime Minister Trudeau is supposed to have said that Canada respects the Sikh people’s right of self-determination and adherence to rule based international order. But Canada must take into consideration that Khalistanis are wanting to carve out another separate state of Sikhs out of India, which cannot be allowed on any ground as it tears asunder India’s unity, integrity and sovereignty of the nation.
Even though Hardeep Singh was a prominent figure for the Sikh community and president of Guru Nank Singh Gurudwara in British Columbia, Canda must know that India had announced a $1.2 million dollars award for any information pertaining to his involvement in Jalandhar conspiracy to kill a Hindu priest.
Indian government accused him of being chief of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), an armed militant group demanding separation.
India also resented the fact that recently Canada permitted a float in a parade commemorating the 1984 assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards.
Trudeau’s position that Canada will always defend its citizens rights to freedom of expression and peaceful protest does not justify anyone to glorify designated murderers and terrorists.
What has further escalated the tensions was the joint statement that Canada and its allies have come out with against the killing of Canadian citizens. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves”.
This is said by the group of allies including Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.
With deteriorating ties India had expelled 10 senior Canadian diplomats and halted any bilateral transactions with Canada.
Canada says that killing of Khalistan terrorists in Canada where they generally take refuge demonstrates India’s ability to be able to assassinate anyone in Canadian soil, undermining the sovereign authority of Canada.
The blame is being apportioned to the growth of Hindu nationalism and power coming into the right-wing Hindu party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The majority Hindu BJP’s growth is supposed to be linked to the minority extremism.
The present India-Canada imbroglio brings to the fore the international role and strategic importance of each country.
Despite Canada being a long-standing ally of the developed Western powers, when it comes to a choice between India and Canada, the US and other powers are likely to partner with India because it is the largest democracy in the world with growing development on the cusp of becoming one of the top three economies of the world. Apart from that, its strategic and geo-political importance in the Indo-Pacific in containing China is far greater than Canada.
In the world of realpolitik Canada will need to take a strong stance towards Khalistan separatist elements’ activities inside the country if Canada wants the Indo-Canadian relationship to improve.
| 
