The murder of the Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June catapulted New Delhi into a full-blown diplomatic row with Ottawa in September. After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linked India to the murder of Nijjar, Indo-Canadian relations plummeted to a new low. Nijjar was shot down by two masked men outside a gurdwara in British Columbia’s Surrey. The killers got away in a car driven by a third person. India has categorically denied any involvement and dismissed Trudeau’s charges as “absurd” and politically motivated.
The charges led Canada and then India to expel intelligence officers posted in each other’s country, prune the staff in their respective diplomatic missions, and suspend all bilateral engagements. India also suspended its visa service in Canada, a country it described as “a safe haven for terrorists”.
The allegations have raised “deep concerns” among some Western allies in the Anglosphere. Trudeau told the Canadian parliament that there were “credible allegations of potential links between agents of the government of India and the killing” of Nijjar. A report in The New York Times complicated the situation further when it quoted unnamed US officials as saying that the US had assisted Canada with intelligence that linked India to the murder as part of the “Five Eyes Alliance”, which is a broad intelligence-sharing arrangement among the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Equally, however, the unfolding drama has put the US and its Western allies in a spot. In recent years, most of them have built strong ties with India that they do not want to jeopardise. India is pivotal to their strategy in the Indo-Pacific region as a counterbalance to China’s aggression in Asia. The US, in particular, finds itself in a bigger dilemma than the others. The US cannot brush aside Trudeau’s charges against India since Canada is a close strategic ally, but India is a strategic partner that is critical in the Indo-Pacific region where China’s growing assertiveness is a common concern for both the US and India.
US President Joe Biden has invested heavily in the relationship. In June, he played host to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he came to the US on his first state visit. The two sides have also signed a range of agreements that have further widened cooperation and consolidated the growing partnership. To show India’s importance in his scheme of things, Biden made a special effort to reach New Delhi a day before the G20 summit in September only to attend a private dinner that Modi hosted for him.
In addition, even in the highly polarised political situation in the US, there is robust bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans for strong ties with India. With the Canada imbroglio, the Biden administration is busy grappling with a situation where it does not want to be seen compromising the US’ core principles, such as respect for the international rule of law and freedom of speech, but it is equally keen to find a pragmatic solution to the current crisis to ensure that it does not alienate India.
Jumping the gun?
The New York Times report suggested that in the aftermath of the killing, US intelligence agencies assisted Canada in its investigation, but what appears to be the “smoking gun”—the intercepted communications of Indian diplomats in Canada that indicate their involvement in the plot—was gathered by Canadian officials themselves, the report said.
Trudeau mentioned “credible allegations” that Nijjar’s killing had “potential links” to India. Indian experts pointed out that “credible allegations” were not evidence. Also, “potential links” suggest that the investigation is as yet incomplete. Is that the reason why Trudeau sought India’s cooperation to join the dots of the probe? “Why does he seek our cooperation if he already has sufficient evidence of an Indian link?” asked former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal in an opinion piece. “If he does not have such evidence, what has pushed him to make a formal statement in Parliament prematurely?” he asked.
Nijjar was president of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), an organisation that supports and carries out terrorist acts in support of a separate Khalistan state. He entered Canada on a forged Indian passport and was given Canadian citizenship after his application was rejected twice. Why Canada ignored India’s complaints and the “red corner” notice issued by Interpol seeking Nijjar’s arrest remains a mystery. “It is a general tendency of Western intelligence agencies to ignore intelligence provided by India about fugitives in their country,” said Vivek Katju, a former Indian diplomat who has dealt with such issues in the past.
Trudeau’s accusation came on the heels of the G20 summit in New Delhi. It is now known that Canadian National Security Adviser Jody Thomas made two trips to New Delhi in August and September to inform her counterpart, Ajit Doval, about the “credible allegations” linking India to Nijjar’s killing. How India reacted to the allegations is not known, but Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Canada had not shared any “credible evidence” with them. Then, at a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Trudeau claimed that he had raised the matter directly with Modi, with no better result. Trudeau said that he also informed Biden, who brought it up with Modi as well.
Trudeau’s subsequent demeanour at the summit was frosty. He stayed away from the President’s dinner and the launch of the Global Biofuel Alliance. An airplane snag forced him to extend his stay by two days, but he did not use the time to engage with the Indian government, nor did Delhi make efforts to reach out to him. Trudeau also refused the alternative aircraft India offered him.
Upsetting the house of cards
Indo-Canadian bilateral ties have been strained in the recent past over the Khalistan issue. New Delhi has been aggrieved that its complaints and concerns about Khalistan supporters in Canada are routinely dismissed by Ottawa. The Canadian government glossed over the issue even after separatist activists attacked Hindu temples and the Indian consulate in Ottawa. It soft-pedalled Sikh hardliner activity even after Khalistan supporters took out a tableau depicting Indira Gandhi’s assassination and glorifying her killers in a procession at Brampton.
The Canadian government’s stance was that since no actual physical harm was done, it allowed the procession because it prioritised the freedom of expression of Canadian citizens. According to the Indian version of the Trudeau-Modi meeting on the G20 sidelines, Modi raised these complaints with Trudeau and asked for urgent steps to be taken.
