Canada has "marginalized itself" in the Indo-Pacific. "You cannot have an Indo-Pacific policy where you antagonize India, where you make India the villain," said Harsh V Pant, a professor of international relations at King's College London and vice president of studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation think tank.
According to 'Nikkei Asia' he said that Canadian PM Justin Trudeau "seems to be more driven by his domestic political agenda than any serious effort to find a solution to a problem that India has been raising for a long time." At the end of the day India is a more important partner than Canada for "defense, strategic and economic reasons."
As of now, Washington is hardly in a position to antagonize New Delhi.
Siddharth Iyer, South Asia policy director for the office of the Secretary of Defense, says the US relationship with India "is one of the top priorities for the department"....."Our belief is that getting the U.S. and India relationship right is not just necessary, it's essential to achieving our strategy in the Indo-Pacific."
Canada's traditional allies, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, have expressed concern over the allegations. Importantly for India and also for a global perspective, these countries have stakes in the Indo-Pacific with India as a key player. Moreover, the US and Australia along with Japan are important members of the Quad along with India.
It's true, Trudeau has been trying to do some damage control but his administration has been trying to put across 'some news stories' in the western media. These are selective leaks.
There's another angle linked to the diplomatic circle.
Indian diplomatic personnel in Canada may have been subjected to illegal surveillance by the Trudeau government.
"The allegation of India’s involvement in the killing of a Sikh Canadian is based on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, including intelligence provided by a major ally, a Canadian official told the Associated Press on Thursday," - ran a report from Toronto.
Such surveillance is not only uncalled for, it is also violation of the Vienna Convention.
Diplomatic personnel, for example, have immunity from prosecution in the state in which they operate. In the 1960s, however, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations stipulated that the level of immunity varies according to the official’s rank.
Immunity is generally more extensive in criminal than in civil matters. A country’s diplomatic mission and archives also are protected.
International organizations possess immunity from local jurisdiction in accordance with international conventions (e.g., the General Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 1946) and agreements signed with the state in which they are based.
Certain immunities also extend to the judges of international courts and to visiting armed forces.
The single biggest terror attack in Canada’s history that killed all 329 passengers on board the Air India Kanishka flight AI 182 in the year 1985 also had credible links with Khalistani separatist elements.
The Canadian Intelligence had later been accused of committing a “cascading series of errors” in the matter, which could have otherwise been averted.
Out of the 320-odd passengers, most of them were Canadian citizens. It is only natural for one to wonder as to why did the Canadian authorities not pursue investigation into the matter with fairness.
Unfortunately, most of those Canadian citizens on board were originally Sikh immigrants and only later became Canadian citizens. The differential treatment meted out to immigrant citizens is not only disturbing but also smacks of racism.
While Trudeau claims to be a champion of democracy and protector of Freedom of Speech, his bigotry is out in the open when he extends protection to terror elements operating from Canada.
Recently, a Congress leader was murdered in broad daylight in India’s state of Punjab and Canada-based Khalistani terrorist, who is also wanted by the National Investigative Agency (NIA), Arsh Dalla had claimed responsibility for the same.
Dalla remains a free man as of today, despite repeated warnings from Indian authorities to their Canadian counterparts. Similarly, many other gangsters of Indian origin too operate with impunity from Canada and carry out occasional mischievous acts through hawala funding of local gangsters here in India.
At least nine separatist organisations supporting terror groups have bases in Canada and despite multiple deportation requests, Ottawa has taken no action against those involved in heinous crimes, including the killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, officials in New Delhi said on Tuesday.
Reportedly, pro-Khalistani outfits such as the World Sikh Organization (WSO), Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) working at the behest of Pakistan have been allegedly operating freely from the Canadian soil.
According to Khalistan Extremism Monitor, a project of the New Delhi-based independent Institute for Conflict Management, Nijjar was born in the Jalandhar district of Punjab in October 1977.
Njjar reportedly moved to Canada in 1997 and worked as a plumber.
He is understood to have been elected unopposed to lead the Guru Nanak Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C. At some stage, he also allegedly became chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force, a separatist militant group.
"Nijjar is actively involved in training KTF militants and operationalizing them in India," the Khalistan Extremism Monitor said, adding that Punjab police filed a case against him in 2010 over an explosion near a Hindu temple in the Indian state, and then in 2015 and 2016 for allegedly plotting to kill religious leaders and organizing a training camp in Canada. "Although Canadian authorities had briefly detained him in April 2018, he was released without any charges being filed."
In July 2020, the Modi government declared Nijjar a "designated terrorist."
ends
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