Opinion Justin Trudeau’s allegation and India’s challenge

on October 14, the strained ties between India and Canada seemed to touch a new low. In September last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had made unsubstantiated allegations about India’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. On Monday, Canada repeated the allegations, claiming that Indian diplomats were involved in choreographing the assassination. Delhi is rightly indignant. It is indeed “preposterous” and “ludicrous” to accuse senior diplomats and leaders of the security establishment of serious crimes without credible evidence, and based, by all accounts, on nothing more than innuendo. Six Indian diplomats, including the High Commissioner, have been recalled by India and six Canadian diplomats have been expelled. Bilateral relations between two democracies, with strong people-to-people ties and much to gain from each other, are being sacrificed at the altar of a narrow — and counterproductive — domestic political agenda in Canada.

Trudeau’s courting and appeasement of extremist elements of the Sikh diaspora’s fringe lies at the heart of the ongoing fracas. Khalistani separatism has had little or no resonance on the ground in India for decades. Trudeau’s rhetoric and policies also do a disservice to the broader Sikh and South Asian diaspora in Canada, the vast majority of whom are law-abiding and contribute to Canada’s politics, society and economy substantially. In fact, going back to the Air India Kanishka bombing in 1985, Ottawa has done little to appreciate the gravity of the threat to India posed by terrorists operating from its soil. A selective invocation of the principles of liberal democracy and a misuse of free speech as a camouflage cannot cover up the fact that the current Canadian government, suffering from a political crisis, is using Nijjar’s death as an instrument in a bid to shore up its dwindling fortunes. Opposition parties and leaders in Canada have openly criticised the Trudeau government’s handling of the current situation. India has stood its ground, and continues to deny Canada’s allegations. New Delhi’s challenge, however, both with Canada and because of its growing role in world affairs, runs deeper.

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As India takes its place at the global high table, its actions and words — domestically and internationally — will be scrutinised more closely. This calls for greater transparency and consistency in how it deals with issues with countries that are otherwise friendly. The contrast in Delhi’s responses to similar accusations by the US — American authorities claimed to have “foiled” a plot by India to assassinate Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — is a case in point. The US State Department made an odd announcement that the Indian Enquiry Committee will be in Washington to “discuss the case”. Neither the composition of this committee nor its terms of reference have been communicated to the Indian public or Parliament. Broadly speaking, India, Canada, and the US are on the same side on the geopolitical stage. Each is a mature democracy, with domestic political and legal compulsions, as well as national security interests. The balance between these is delicate, and requires mature, behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Unfortunately, this process has been marred by Canada’s accusations.