The diplomatic spat between India and Canada is on the rise. Ottawa’s decision to scale down counselor presence inside India is an indicator that both the countries have not been able to overcome the row in the wake of Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s mysterious killing, allegedly at the hands of intelligence sleuths in British Columbia. The pronouncement to temporarily suspend operations in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Mumbai has come at the peril of genuine Indians, who will now have to wait long for processing of their visa and immigrant cases. This tit-for-tat from Canada was necessitated as India went over the brink to not only deny any of its wrongdoing in the murder, but also shunted out the Canadian deputy high commissioner from Delhi as a tactical face-off. Canada’s desire to probe into the killing was also cold-shouldered by India, and it seems it is all at the premise of its new-found arrogance.
The withdrawal of 41 diplomats from India is a blow to their erstwhile cordiality, and underscores how seriously Canada is looking forward to pin down the assassin. The Indian-born Canadian naturalised Nijjar was a forefront activist for the rights of Sikhs, and advocated a free land for his tiny community. His extermination has put in question the future and security of more than 2 million Canadians who are of Indian origin, and constitute 5% of the population in their chosen land of immigration. PM Justin Trudeau’s claim that his country has ‘credible’ evidence of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder of Nijjar should have been reciprocated by Delhi through compliance with the investigation. But that is not the case, and it has pushed the ties in disarray and chaos.
India, nonetheless, seems to be mindful of the gravity of the evolving situation. Its resolve not to impose any measures to curb imports or investments from Canada hints at keeping a window of opportunity open for a plausible thaw. But, in any case, the world needs explanation as to how Nijjar was taken out, and Delhi must come clean if it has no skeletons to hide.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2023.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ