Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said that India-Canada ties might be experiencing a “tonal shift” following the revelation of a US indictment charging an Indian with planning to murder a pro-Khalistan Sikh separatist leader on American soil.
Relations between India and Canada became strained after Trudeau alleged a potential link between the Indian government and the murder of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia earlier this year.
Last month, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) released an indictment accusing an Indian national of involvement in a plan to assassinate American and Canadian citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil.
‘Tonal Shift’ in India-Canada Relations
In an end-of-year interview with CBC News, Trudeau said, “I think there is a beginning of an understanding that [India] can’t bluster their way through this and there is an openness to collaborating in a way that perhaps they were less open before.”
“There’s an understanding that maybe, maybe just churning out attacks against Canada isn’t going to make this problem go away,” he added.
“We don’t want to be in a situation of having a fight with India right now over this,” the Canadian PM explained. “We want to be working on that trade deal. We want to be advancing the Indo-Pacific strategy.”
However, he also indicated that it is “foundational for Canada to stand up for people’s rights, for people’s safety, and for the rule of law. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he sensed a change in India's tone with Ottawa after the United States warned New Delhi about its involvement in a thwarted plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader on US soil https://t.co/IT50CYLa0y pic.twitter.com/xxTRYDr4Ql
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 20, 2023
Trudeau’s Allegations Against India
In September, Trudeau accused the Indian government of killing Nijjar on Canadian soil. Nijjar was shot outside a Sikh Gurdwara on 18 June in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a significant Sikh community.
In July 2020, the Indian government designated Nijjar as a “terrorist” for his separatist activities, and he was issued an Interpol red corner notice.
Canada stated it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” of foreign government operatives’ involvement in the killing, calling it an “unacceptable violation” of its sovereignty.
Trudeau asserted, “The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness.” He added that Canada was not seeking to provoke India, saying, “We are simply laying out facts as we understand them, and we want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear.”
The Canadian PM claimed that his decision to make open allegations regarding the suspicions of the Indian government’s role in Nijjar’s killing was intended to “put a chill” on New Delhi from repeating a similar move.
“All the quiet diplomacy and all the measures that we put in — and ensured that our security services put in to keep people safe in the community — needed a further level of deterrence, perhaps of saying publicly and loudly that we know, or we have credible reasons to believe, that the Indian government was behind this...And therefore put a chill on them continuing or considering doing anything like this.”
‘To put a chill on India’: Trudeau on decision to make Nijjar killing allegations publichttps://t.co/rRJlp8cXjQ
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) December 13, 2023
India Rejects Trudeau’s Allegations
India denounced Trudeau’s allegations, calling them “absurd and motivated.”
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in its statement that when Trudeau made similar charges during his meeting with PM Narendra Modi, the latter had completely rejected them.
The MEA further strongly condemned Trudeau’s allegations, saying, “The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities as murders, human trafficking, and organised crime is not new.”
“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the MEA said.
Modi’s Response
“If someone gives us any information, we would definitely look into it,” Modi said in an interview with the UK-based newspaper Financial Times (FT) on Wednesday.
While declaring India’s commitment to the rule of law, he added, “If a citizen of ours has done anything good or bad, we are ready to look into it.”