At a time when two armed conflicts are going on in Europe and Asia simultaneously, a diplomatic war has begun between India and Canada! Usually, India does not engage in such a war with any Western country. According to Foreign Policy experts, incidents, taken place in the last one year, have led to this deadlock situation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Pierre James Trudeau deepened the crisis by issuing a strange statement in mid-October 2024!

Prime Minister Trudeau announced that Canada decided to snap diplomatic ties with India for the role played by the Government of India in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, although there was no concrete evidence against the South Asian nation in this regard! It may be noted that Nijjar was a Sikh separatist, a leader of the Khalistan Movement and a Canadian citizen (since 2007)!

Trudeau made such a serious allegation against India and snapped diplomatic ties, despite admitting that his administration had no strong evidence against the South Asian nation. As expected, the Narendra Modi Administration in New Delhi rejected the allegation, stating that Ottawa should produce proper evidence while making such allegations. It is indeed a strange situation! With Canadian Opposition Leader Maxime Bernier accusing Trudeau of using Nijjar’s murder to divert attention from other controversies, the Canadian Prime Minister would have to take the responsibility for the deteriorating bilateral ties. Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, also asked the Trudeau Government to posthumously take away the Khalistani militant’s citizenship in an attempt to correct the past administrative error, stressing that the Nijjar (the central figure in the entire controversy) was a foreign terrorist who was somehow granted Canadian citizenship in 2007.

Political analysts are of the opinion that Prime Minister Trudeau wants to gain the support of his country’s vast immigrant Sikh community for his own political interest. As he wants to win his political battle with the help of the Khalistani influence on Canadian politics, Trudeau has declared a diplomatic war against India! The matter has reached such a level that the two countries have expelled at least six diplomats! Allegations have been made in each case that they were carrying out targeted propaganda in the pretext of Freedom of Speech! Both the countries have outrightly rejected immigrant visas, as well as applications for tourist visas. Usually, such steps are taken on a mutual basis. Since Canada initiated to take these steps, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs took counter-measures. The Indian Ministry has also made clear that Canada should be held accountable at the global stage, if it fails to provide sufficient proof to substantiate the allegations.

On the other hand, India should be aware of another issue while dealing with Canada… it is about exactly what kind of covert operations did the Indian diplomats conduct in that country? It is because such allegations were made against India in the past. Officials of the Indian intelligence agency targeted enemies on foreign soil many a time without giving prior information to the Government of India in this regard.

In this context, Lawrence Bishnoi has become an important character as the Canadian Police have accused him of eliminating Nijjar. Bishnoi is an Indian gangster who has been imprisoned since 2015. He faces multiple criminal charges, including all for murder and extortion; although he has denied all those allegations. Bishnoi’s gang is reportedly linked to over 700 shooters, operating across India. Currently, Canada and the US are trying hard to gather evidence of such covert operations carried out by the Bishnoi gang from enemy countries (meant enemies of India). Perhaps, they can find some evidence in Pakistan and West Asian nations. In that case, India could face a long-term diplomatic crisis.

Does this seem that it is important to safeguard one’s own interests before launching attacks on enemies! One should always remember the age-old proverb that states: “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones!“

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das