Relations between India and Canada have reached their lowest point in recent history after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of orchestrating the murder of a prominent leader of the Sikh independence movement in front of a temple. in British Columbia, western Canada, in June. The serious diplomatic crisis resulted in the expulsion of the head of the Indian intelligence service in Canada, to which New Delhi responded with the eviction of a Canadian diplomat.
India has repeatedly accused Canada of supporting the Sikh movement, which is banned and supposedly dormant in the South Asian country - where arrests still occur - but which has the support of the diaspora around the world and, especially, in Canada.
Here are some keys to understand the causes of the escalation of tensions between two countries that were about to seal an important trade agreement.
The so-called Khalistan movement began as an armed insurgency in the late 1980s demanding an independent state in Punjab, where Sikhs are the majority, although they represent about 1.7% of India's total population. The uprising paralyzed the state with bomb attacks and murders against thousands of people for more than a decade and was suppressed by an offensive by the Indian government in which thousands were also killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
The high point came in 1984, when the Indian army entered the Golden Temple in Amritsar and killed the leader of the insurgency. Months later, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by two Sikhs who were her bodyguards. The murder triggered bloody anti-Sikh riots and persecutions in New Delhi, as well as a government crackdown that led many to seek refuge in other countries, including Canada, where the Sikh population makes up 2% of the population, the largest community outside of Punjab.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was a Sikh independence activist who was shot dead by hooded men outside a temple of his religion on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver. He had been wanted by Indian authorities for three years for alleged acts of terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder, accusations he denied, according to the World Sikh Organization of Canada.
While there is currently no active insurgency in Punjab, the Khalistan movement still has some followers in the Indian state and the struggle is still alive in the diaspora. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has stepped up its persecution of Sikh separatists and arrested dozens of leaders of various groups linked to the movement. Additionally, Modi has personally instructed leaders of countries such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom to take legal action against activists. Last year, a Sikh militant leader and head of the Khalistan Commando Force was shot dead in Pakistan.
India accuses Canada of getting too comfortable with Sikh separatists, who have even emerged as a political force in districts around Toronto and Vancouver. In 2015, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's appointment of four Sikh ministers to his cabinet led Indian officials to accuse Canada of supporting calls for separatism. Ottawa has always maintained that it supports a "united India", but refuses to persecute protests by the Sikh community in the interests of freedom of expression.
While the issue of Canadian sympathy for Sikh separatism never went away, in recent months things seemed to be mending as Canada was keen to boost ties with India to counter its crumbling relationship with China. Trade talks had intensified to the point that last May both countries were optimistic about the possibility of reaching a major trade agreement, which revolved around automobiles, agriculture and information technology.
In September, the Canadian government requested a pause in trade talks as Trudeau prepared to travel to India for the G-20 leaders' summit. There, Trudeau and Modi did not hold a formal bilateral meeting because the Indian prime minister wanted it that way. However, there was a meeting in which Trudeau claims he brought up Nijjar's murder, while his Indian counterpart criticized him for allowing Sikh secessionist groups to operate in the country, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs. .
Several days later, in a sign of further deterioration in relations, Canada canceled a trade mission to India scheduled for early October. No reason was given.
Now we will have to wait to see the evidence that Canada presents to support the serious accusations. Depending on what is revealed, tensions could flare further and potentially strain India's ties with other Western governments. All in all, the issue could harm Justin Trudeau's leadership if he is not able to put back on track ties that he has just set on fire.
If this accusation, "very serious and well documented," turns out to be true, it will have "a bombshell effect throughout the world," international relations researcher and former advisor to Justin Trudeau, Jocelyn Coulon, tells France-Presse. India would join "the group of nations that murder political opponents", such as Saudi Arabia with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey or Russia and its history of poisonings in the United Kingdom.
