Trudeau sulks as Modi raps Canada over its pro-Khalistani stance, putting Indo-Canadian ties on back foot

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau was in New Delhi to attend the G20 summit

Most world leaders returned home satisfied with the outcome of the New Delhi G-20 summit outcome last week and India’s warm hospitality during their stay in the city.

But there was one exception.

The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, stood out from the rest and sulked as he felt slighted.

Apparently, this was after the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, told him some home truths about his encouragement to Khalistani activists in Canada.

Before arriving in New Delhi, Trudeau had also abruptly stalled negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), adding fresh strain in the bilateral ties.

It got worse for Trudeau when his aircraft developed a technical snag that delayed his departure and sparked off controversy back home about the crumbling nature of Canada’s infrastructure.

Canada, one of the leading economies in the world, is an important partner for India as a large number of Indians have made Canada their home.

In recent years they have also held important cabinet posts in Canadian governments and rose to other prominent positions in public life.

But Prime Minister Modi expressed his concerns and disappointment with Canada for glossing over the Khalistan issue in his talks with Trudeau.

In a readout of their meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs said, Modi conveyed India’s strong concerns about continuing anti-Indian activities of “extremist elements” in Canada.

He said these elements were promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship.

Modi said the nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well.

He said it was essential for the two sides to cooperate to challenge these threats as India and Canada relations are anchored in shared democratic values, respect for rule of law and strong people-to-people ties.

Trudeau said while Modi’s views on the issues of Punjab separatists in Canada were discussed, so were Canadian concerns about Indian interference in its affairs during the talks.

“Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest, as it is extremely important to us,” he said.

Trudeau reminded India that “the actions of a few do not represent the entire community or Canada.”

But nothing could hide his frustration at the turn of events since his arrival in India as most believed that he was rapped on the knuckles by Modi for sympathising with the Khalistanis.

As a protest against the “insult to the Prime Minister,” the Khalistanis have demanded that the Indian High Commission in Ottawa be shut.

Trudeau refused the Indian offer of an alternative aircraft to fly him and his delegation back to Canada, and skipped the Indian President, Droupadi Murmu’s dinner in honour of the invited leaders of the G-20 summit.

He spent time in his hotel room with his 16-year-old son, Xavier who had accompanied him, until an alternative aircraft was arranged to fly him back home by the Canadian government.

Indian officials were aware of Trudeau’s reluctance to act against the Khalistan activists. But Prime Minister Modi thought it was appropriate to tell him how India saw his stand.

The frequent attacks against Indian assets, including their religious places and the mission in Ottawa have been brought to the notice of Trudeau in the past.

New Delhi was outraged when a tableau depicting former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards was taken out by the Khalistanis during a rally.

In the wake of the killing of a Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Canadian city in June, posters of Indian diplomats serving in Canada were put up by the Khalistani activists as they were held responsible for his death.

The Canadian authorities also allowed an unofficial "referendum" demanding the creation of a separate Khalistan state by carving out territory from India.

India feels Trudeau is deliberately ignoring Indian concerns and refusing to act against the Khalistanis because they are his vote bank.

Trudeau’s 2018 visit to India had also ended in a fiasco with most ministers in the Modi government refusing to meet him and the Prime Minister holding a bilateral meeting but nothing more. The reason, his sympathy for Khalistan.

A fresh controversy had also broken out when a known Khalistani terrorist was on the guest list of his official reception.

The Sikh separatist issue had also been a bone of contention between the two sides when his father, Pierre Trudeau, was Prime Minister of Canada in the early 1980s and the Khalistan movement was at its peak.

But most Western governments have changed their attitude towards terrorist organisations after a series of terror attacks in leading European capitals and cities in recent years.

Legislation brought by them to curb their activities has made the glorification of terrorist acts a criminal offence.

But the Trudeau government continues to be lenient towards the Khalistan supporters to avoid jeopardising its vote-bank.

However, recent surveys show that Trudeau’s Liberal Party is trailing its Conservative rivals by double-digit margins.

The next parliamentary election in Canada is due in 2025 but it has begun to raise expectations in India and Canada of a course correction by the new regime to put bilateral relations back on track.