India and Canada finally seem to be on the right course to return to the pre-Trudeau era of friendship and cooperation. Current visit of Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand to India is another step in that direction.
Anand, who is an Indian-origin Canadian, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during her visit. Besides, she was supposed to meet Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and some business leaders to explore mutual business opportunities between the two countries.
There was never any doubt that Indo-Canadian relations were spoiled by the short-sighted policies of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. While his domestic compulsions were understandable to pander to the Khalistani elements living in Canada, he could still have maintained a balance while respecting Indian sensitivities. Sadly, he failed. The way he conducted relations with India left hardly any doubt that he was guided and influenced by the Khalistani lobby within his party and the government.
It was quite unprecedented that the Prime Minister of a country, as big as Canada, would be influenced so heavily by a fringe group of people to put at stake long and historic relations with a friendly democracy.
In fact, it was not just the relations with India that Trudeau spoiled, he failed at the domestic front also and was made to resign much before his term was to end. He was replaced by Mark Carney, who later led the Liberal Party to return to power once again, when everyone had started believing that Liberals were on the way out, because of Trudeau’s repeated and recurring failures.
Carney has been proving to be an effective and a successful Prime Minister who is navigating his country against the trade and tariff storm that his neighbour Donald Trump has sprung from across the southern borders. He has shown his mettle in dealing with Trump, otherwise the most difficult leader to deal with in the world today.
It was in the month of June that Carney personally called Prime Minister Modi to invite him to attend the G-7 summit in Canada. The two leaders met along the side-lines of the summit and reopened the chapter of cordial Indo-Canadian relations. It was followed up with both the countries re-establishing full diplomatic relations with each other by appointing high commissioners in each other’s country.
There has been a noticeable change and decline in the anti-India activities of the radical and pro-Khalistani elements who, otherwise during the Prime Ministership of Trudeau, would regularly stage protests against India and even try vandalising the Indian diplomatic missions and even some temples in different parts of Canada.
Also, the Canadian government has for the first time on record flagged the threat of Khalistani extremism on Canadian soil, besides admitting that funds were raised in Canada for violent activities in India. All this would have been unimaginable and unthinkable during Trudeau’s time.
Also read: Modi, Anand pledge to revive India-Canada trade and tech ties
Trudeau had directly blamed the Government of India for the killing of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Surrey. However, his government had not provided any evidence to prove his charges. He repeatedly went on accusing India of interfering in Canadian affairs. This was unbecoming of a Prime Minister to level such charges against a friendly democracy with which his country had enjoyed cordial relations for a long time. The reason for his foolhardy approach to diplomacy was his proximity with pro-Khalistani elements in the Liberal Party.
He also wanted to counter the growing influence of New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, who is known for taking a pro-Khalistan stance, among a section of Sikhs. Trudeau’s stringent posturing against India was also aimed at appealing to the same constituency where Jagmeet enjoyed considerable support and clout. In the process, Trudeau ended up breaking diplomatic relations with India. This was unheard of anywhere in the world that the Prime Minister of a country would go to such an extent just to appease a small section of voters. Jagmeet’s party, the NDP, was routed in the 2025 General Elections.
At the same time, the Carney government has not lowered its guard against the criminal activities taking place on its soil. A significant number of criminals and gangsters in Canada are of first or second generation Indian origin.
The Canadian government has designated the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group. While Trudeau blamed the Government of India for the killing of Nijjar, there is another version to this story that he was killed by his own political rivals and opponents. Just a year before his killing, Ripudaman Singh Mallik, an accused in the Kanishka bombing and now a rival of Nijjar, was killed just a year before at the same place. The Trudeau government had ignored these factors while putting all the blame on the Indian government.
There is a huge Indian diaspora of about two million people living in Canada. These people continue to retain their bonding with the country of their origin. Yes, a section of this diaspora has been using Canadian soil against anti-India activities, but the majority of Punjabis remain neutral and are mostly focused on their own business and work.
The resumption of relations between India and Canada has also come as a great relief to the diaspora, which was feeling the pinch due to the strained relations between the two countries.
Not surprisingly, the World Sikh Organisation, which is known for its anti-India stance, has opposed Anand’s visit to India. The WSO had in fact even opposed her appointment as the Canadian Foreign Minister because of her religion. While someone like Trudeau would definitely oblige them, Carney did not. And that is how the affairs of a country are conducted.
Under Carney India hopes and looks forward to much better and warm relations with Canada. The two countries are natural allies with both being democracies and both having a lot of diversity.
Long live Indo-Canadian relations.
Follow us
