“Indo-Canada Reset 2025: The Lotus and the Maple Bloom Again”, My Ind maker, November 01, 2015

“India-Canada relations have never been great since the time of the bombing on June 23rd, 1985, of the Air India flight 182 (Kanishka) with the deaths of 329 passengers over the Atlantic Ocean by Sikh-Canadian terrorists espousing the cause of a mythical, so-called Khalistan. Successive Canadian administrations, both liberal and conservative, have focused more on domestic vote-bank politics, garnering Sikh-Canadian votes at the expense of maintaining good relations with India.

Canada’s membership in the G-7 and the “Five Eyes” Anglo-Saxon Alliance tinged successive Canadian administrations’ worldview with a sense of diplomatic arrogance and racial superiority. The deep dive into Indo-Canadian affairs began in 2019, during Trudeau’s week-long trip to India, ostensibly to boost international trade but involving extra-territorial electioneering by way of selective photo-ops at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, and other Sikh shrines, sometimes in the company of shady characters and terror suspects. Following the national elections of 2019, Trudeau’s coalition government survived on the parliamentary support of Pro-Khalistan Jagmeet Singh and his New Democratic Party (NDP). The policy formulations of the Trudeau administration necessitated appeasement of the Pro-Khalistan Sikh-Canadian lobby for its own survival.

The Historic Low of 2023:

The year 2023 marked a historic low for India-Canada relations, driven by the anti-India campaign led by former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, based on allegations of “credible intelligence” that were never shared. Trudeau’s actions grew amid increasing differences in security and cooperation between the leadership of the two democracies. This ultimately resulted in recalling top diplomats, reducing consular services, limiting people-to-people interactions and opportunities, and obstructing the free-trade agreement envisioned in earlier years. The main disputes between the Modi-led Indian government and the Trudeau-led Canadian government stemmed from India’s stance on the Khalistan issue and Canada’s harbouring of anti-India sentiments, alongside Canada’s denial and accusations against India for the alleged murder of Sikh-Canadian citizen and proclaimed offender Hardeep Singh Nijjar in India, on Canadian soil. Despite Trudeau’s loud declaration in the Canadian parliament about having allegations of “credible intelligence”, his government failed to provide any concrete evidence to India for nearly two years……..”

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