Foreign policy expert Michael Kugelman has said that the deteriorating diplomatic relations between India and Canada bear similarities to New Delhi’s strained equation with Pakistan.
India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced withdrawing its high commissioner and other “targeted” officials from Canada. New Delhi’s move came in the wake of Ottawa’s allegation that India’s envoy and other diplomats were “persons of interest” in the probe into the murder of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. New Delhi has called the allegations baseless and absurd.
The Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center said that the Indo-Canadian relationship has now hit rock bottom.
“This is a relationship that’s now hit rock bottom and indeed, looking at recent developments, certainly is reminiscent of India’s relations with Pakistan in terms of these extremely serious allegations being made, in terms of senior diplomats being expelled, as well as the use of blistering language in government statements, it’s all there and of course, the core allegation that we’re hearing from India that Canada is sheltering and sponsoring anti-India terrorists. This is what we’re used to hearing India say about Pakistan,” he said.
Kugelman said Canada’s internal politics have contributed to the diplomatic tiff.
“There are a lot of factors at play here. Certainly, one could acknowledge the relevance of the domestic political realities in Canada,” he said.
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He also said that some of the comments made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were on India’s internal matters.
“Notably, PM Justin Trudeau has made some comments on internal developments in India that one would not expect a Canadian PM to make, such as commenting and expressing support for farmers protesting against Indian agricultural laws,” Kugelman added.
Meanwhile, Canadian journalist Daniel Bordman has slammed the Canadian government for failing to curb rising extremism in the country. Referring to the diplomatic tensions with India, he said that the “tacit support of extremism from the highest levels of government is starting to have consequences.”
Speaking on incidents where Indian diplomats were endangered and temples were defaced with Khalistani slogans, Bordman said, “This problem is not just for Indian diplomats; a lot of Canadians feel this way… The most violent and anti-Canadian among us get the most preferential treatment.”
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He said India’s allegation that Canada had been harbouring criminal and extremist elements would resonate with a lot of Canadians.
“The tacit support of extremism from the highest levels of government is starting to have consequences. This is why I said a lot of Canadians would resonate with what the Indian government is saying. Jewish Canadians don’t feel safe; Hindu Canadians don’t feel safe; Christian Canadians don’t feel safe — their churches have been burned,” he said.
He said law-abiding, patriotic Canadians are being treated like criminals, while extremists act with impunity.
“So the problems that the Indian diaspora is facing here in Canada, and the country at large, are very indicative of the problems that a lot of Canadians feel they’re facing, where they are pro-Canada, law-abiding citizens who love the country but are being treated like criminals,” he added.
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He said pro-Khalistan elements have been acting with impunity.
“On the other hand, you have criminals who hate the country, who are quite literally burning it down live on TV and are getting away with it. So, the Khalistanis feel emboldened enough to make floats about Indira Gandhi and threaten to kill Indian ministers and threaten to burn things down because they’ve gotten away with it for so many years,” he added.
Former Indian diplomat KP Fabian said India’s relations with Canada won’t normalise until Justin Trudeau is the prime minister of the country.
“We can hope and pray that both governments give this a deep thought and work towards de-escalating this situation, but I am not fully sure that this may be the case. The signals we have been receiving thus far foreshadow an escalation, and unfortunately, as long as Justin Trudeau remains Prime Minister in Canada, we do not see things getting better,” Fabian said.
India’s decision to recall High Commissioner Sanjay Verma and some other diplomats came shortly after the Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheelers was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Wheelers was bluntly told that baseless “targeting” of the Indian envoy and other officials was “completely unacceptable”.
New Delhi later expelled six Canadian diplomats including Charge d’Affaires Wheelers and Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Hebert. The other diplomats expelled are Marie Catherine Joly, Ian Ross David Trites, Adam James Chuipka and Paula Orjuela (all first secretaries).
Earlier, New Delhi said the allegations against Indian diplomats were “concocted” and “preposterous imputations”. India also slammed Justin Trudeau over “naked interference” in the country’s internal affairs.
With inputs from PTI, ANI
