Chill in Ottawa and New Delhi

India-Canada relations are in tatters a year after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stunned the world with his allegation that Indian government agents were linked to the killing of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The latest round in the diplomatic row between the two countries erupted this week when Canada asked India to allow its investigation agencies to question six Indian officials, including the high commissioner to Ottawa, in connection with Nijjar’s murder. Canada clearly breached a red line with this move, and New Delhi retaliated by recalling the envoy to Ottawa and expelling six Canadian diplomats. New Delhi has consistently argued that the Canadian government has not shared credible evidence of Indian involvement in the killing of Nijjar. But now that the investigation in Canada is entangled with the electoral politics of that country and the political future of Trudeau, there are questions about the sanctity of the probe itself.
It has long been India’s contention that Canada has been insensitive to India’s concerns about the Khalistan project operating from Canadian soil, and this grouse dates back several decades. Canada’s botched investigation of the bombing of Air India Flight 182 by pro-Khalistan activists, which killed more than 320 people, including 268 Canadian citizens, is often cited as an example in this regard. Canada has been perceived as lenient towards pro-Khalistan operatives. Ottawa’s concern that a Canadian citizen was killed is appreciated, but to invest so much in a person with a shady political record, even at the cost of derailing bilateral ties with a friendly democracy can be explained only by Canada’s reluctance to recognise pro-Khalistan radicals for what they are. The US, where reports of the alleged involvement of Indian officials in plots targeting pro-Khalistan operatives originated, has its own concerns, but it has approached the situation very differently, effectively sandboxing this issue from the broader, and crucial, relationship with India.
Canada is home to a massive Indian diaspora and any disruption in diplomatic relations will have a bearing on their social, economic, and religious lives. The ups and downs of the bilateral relationship over the past year have shown the impact on segments ranging from the diaspora to students. Bilateral ties have to be fireproofed from political gains and shared ideals, including privileging quiet diplomacy and opposing faith-centric radicalism should be foregrounded so that the lost ground is retrieved.