By Sushil Kutty
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs no introduction. Trudeau hates India and last reports said Justin’s government is in big trouble and can be toppled “anytime”. The fact is, Justin Trudeau’s political insecurities and his desperate need for Canada’s Sikh vote-bank have led him to this sorry plight. India-Canada ties have never been as low as they are now, prompting the Indian National Congress to say it wasn’t so “in our time”. This, as Trudeau accused Modi’s India of making a “fundamental error” by “supporting criminal activities in Canada.”
It is another matter that Trudeau is the one in error. But who will tell this to Trudeau? Sikhs have a huge presence in Canada, 770,000-strong, and they are prized voters for Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada. The country’s Sikh MPs have been supporting Trudeau’s government, but his own Liberal Party of Canada MPs are ganging up against him.
Is Trudeau trying to deflect from his own troubles by targeting India? “When I spoke to PM Modi at the end of last week, I highlighted how incredibly important the meeting between our national security advisors in Singapore this weekend was going to be. He was aware of that meeting and I pressed upon him that the meeting needs to be taken very, very seriously,” Trudeau said.
But, contrary to Trudeau’s reckoning, the NSAs’ rendezvous didn’t amount to much and tensions escalated. India’s Ministry of External Affairs condemned the “diplomatic communication” from Canada on the Nijjar killing and India recalled its high commissioner in Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma. The Canadian police had named Verma and his senior colleagues as “persons of interest” in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing, alleging that they were “agents” of the Government of India.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued a statement and India demanded proof. Trudeau’s police is basically out of its depth but not willing to admit it. The RCMP addressed four issues: “Violent extremism impacting both countries; links tying agents of the Government of India to homicides and violent acts; the use of organized crime to create a perception of an unsafe environment targeting the South Asian Community in Canada and interference into democratic processes.”
But where’s the evidence against India? Canada’s “diplomatic communication” that India’s High Commissioner and other diplomats are “persons of interest” is bunkum. The Government of India did right by rejecting the communication. Trudeau’s blinkered fantasies should not be given wings.
Justin Trudeau is a clear and present danger for the well-being of India as well as Canada, both. Trudeau’s political agenda is calling the shots. The MEA is right when it said vote-bank politics is behind Trudeau’s ill-will towards India.
Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, was also Canada’s Prime Minister and the elder Trudeau was as anti-India as the son. “Like father like son” fits Justin Trudeau like a glove. Bottom-line is, the Government of Canada will remain anti-India so long as Justin Trudeau remains at the helm of Canada.
And it is the Trudeau government’s actions that forced the MEA to summon Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler on October 14 and tell him straight-off that “the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.” Wheeler must have never thought that the wheels would have turned to this extent.
Trudeau’s fetish for pandering to Khalistani terrorists is particularly obnoxious. His obsession with Sikhs, especially the Khalistani variant, which infests Canada, will be the death of India-Canada ties has more or less come true. With High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma ordered to return “home”, Justin Trudeau and the RCMP will have to look for other scapegoats.
Indian media are calling the events of the last couple of days, a “dramatic turn of events”. The reality is, India couldn’t care less. India has been taking a lot of meaningless crap from Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, specifically, for no fault of India. Trudeau’s paranoia and his obsession for Khalistan have taken on gargantuan proportions. On October 14, 2024, India took proactive action.
At home, here in New Delhi, the average Indian supports the NDA government’s action to expel six Canadian diplomats. Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, killed in June 2023, in British Columbia, Canada, has no friends in India. Just like Justin Trudeau has no admirers in India except the odd Khalistani who would, given the chance, carve out a Khalistan out of Canada if nothing else works!
Trudeau’s government has also accused India’s criminal gangs of committing crimes in Canada, which includes murders and extortion. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang remains the favourite scapegoat. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government cannot be such fools that they’re unaware that Lawrence Bishnoi and Khalistani terrorists have a cozy relationship and the two always help each other.
Last, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has a glorious past. But it is disheartening to know that it has lost its way and has descended to doing things no respectful police force anywhere on the planet would do. That the RCMP cannot or will not hand over credible evidence of “India’s involvement in criminal activities in Canada” is tantamount to saying India is under attack from a spiteful foreign government.
Canada expelled six Indian diplomats on the specific charge of carrying out a “campaign of violence” and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police made some serious allegations but had no evidence to show. What happens to India-Canada ties if Justin Trudeau is toppled next week, or tomorrow? (IPA
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