Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may already be on the way out, but not before having damaged diplomatic relations with a longtime friend and the largest democracy in the world, India.
It may take years for the diplomatic relations between the two countries to come back on track even after Trudeau’s imminent and inevitable exit.
He is supposed to be replaced very soon as he has already resigned.
For several months, Trudeau parroted a fake narrative, alleging the involvement of Indian agents in the killing of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Trudeau even tried to involve countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, called ‘Five Eyes’ to “pressurise” India to cooperate in the probe, without any basis or evidence.
India had been repeatedly asking for evidence, which the Trudeau government never produced or provided. Now a high-powered commission headed by Justice Marie-Josee Hogue has concluded that there was “no definitive link” with any “foreign state” in the killing of Nijjar, thus vindicating India’s stand.
The Commission was appointed for ‘Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions’.
The Commission’s report not only vindicates India’s position that the Canadian government's allegations were baseless as it did not provide any evidence but also addressed India’s concerns over the pro-Khalistani activities being carried out on Canadian soil, which at times were turning violent.
India had been repeatedly dismissing Canadian allegations. Despite that, the Canadian government expelled six Indian diplomats including the High Commissioner. India also retaliated by expelling Canadian diplomats from Delhi. Not only did it hurt the long friendly relationship between the two countries, but also put thousands of Indian-origin Canadians to numerous problems and difficulties with various visa and travel-related things.
It was rightly believed that Trudeau was being influenced by a group of pro-Khalistan elements in the Liberal Party, besides trying to ward off an imminent crisis by raising the bogey of foreign interference.
He also wanted to checkmate his alliance partner Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party by taking a more stringent position against India.
Another reason was believed to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s warm gesture to Russian President Putin during his Moscow visit. Modi’s warm hug with the Russian President reportedly annoyed the US government, which has always wanted India to be on its side in the Russia-Ukraine War.
It is widely believed that Trudeau’s allegations against India were, at least encouraged if not prompted, by the US. Trudeau enjoyed warm and friendly relations with the Democratic Party leadership including President Joe Biden, who would always lend him his ear.
With the change of guard in the White House and President Donald Trump’s aggressive stance towards Canada, the ground situation has changed considerably. The Canadian government can no longer take the US support for granted and that too in the context of India. The new US establishment, unlike the previous one, is well aware of India’s security concerns.
Moreover, Trudeau is no more in control of things. His countdown as the Prime Minister has already started as he has resigned as the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Liberal Party. With the revelations made by the ‘Inquiry Commission’, he will find it difficult to explain his charges against India that have completely damaged the diplomatic relations between the two democracies.
While the relations between the two countries will of course be back on track, sooner than later, particularly after Trudeau’s exit, the report has vindicated India’s stand that it was not involved in the killing of any foreign national in any foreign country.
Although Trudeau is already on the way out, he still deserves to be held to account for levelling baseless charges against another country without even a shred of evidence for reasons not unknown.
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