The Khalistan issue has become a big irritant in the India – Canada relations.
Issues concerning this dominated the Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s recent visit to India, and it is in the interest of both countries to course correct.
How has the Indo-Canadian relations fared over the years?
The previous decade saw Indo-Canada bilateral relationship going strong and co-operation across multiple sectors were established.
This included agreements on - energy, trade, civil nuclear cooperation and a commitment from Canadian pension funds to invest in India.
India and Canada have much in common as two pluralistic, diverse democracies with very strong people-to-people ties.
Besides this, Indian Diaspora accounts for over 1.3 million in Canada, and an 100,000 Indian students pursue their studies there.
Despite these overwhelming commonalities, as the recent visit of Mr. Trudeau showed, the relationship seems to be turning sour.
What has caused the Indo-Canadian tensions?
Liberal Party shepherded a resolution recently in the Ontario provincial legislature calling the 1984 anti-Sikh violence “genocide”.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau was even attended a rally in Toronto, which was organised by pro-Khalistani Sikh groups.
Such attitudes of Canada’s ruling dispensation didn’t go down well with the Indian authorities who had expressed their apprehensions.
Hence, tensions were simmering in the underneath, long before the Canadian PM’s arrived for an eight-day state visit to India.
Considering these, New Delhi had preferred to keep Mr Trudeau’s state visit a shorter, formal and more business-like.
But Ottawa opted for a five-city tour, with a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the penultimate day.
What were the stress points during the visit?
As a symbolic snub, a junior minister was delegated to welcome the Canadian PM, in clear contrast to how other heads of governments had been received.
Punjab CM - The Indian government wanted Mr. Trudeau to reach out to the Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh during the visit.
Notably, this was to make up for the Canadian government’s action in 2016, when it had snubbed Mr.Singh, when he had requested for an official visit.
But as Mr. Trudeau’s office did not confirm a meeting with the Punjab CM till after his arrival in India, this too accentuated the tensions.
Khalistani elements - To India’s annoyance, the Canadian delegation also had members suspected of sympathising with extremist Sikh groups.
Notably, Mr. Japal Atwal, who was part of the Canadian delegation, is a suspected Khalistani and is said to have attempted assassinating an Indian minister in 1986.
While the courts in India have acquitted him due to lack of evidence, his presence has caused severe embarrassment during the bilateral meet.
Overall - Expect for the final meet with Mr. Modi, throughout the trip, the Canadian PM was unaccompanied by suitably ranked officials.
Ottawa had been insensitive to Indian concerns all along, which seems to have forced the India to be this vocal about displeasure.
Considering the criticality of the bilateral relationship, both sides could’ve handled the visit better.
