Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there has been a “tonal shift” from India since the US alleged New Delhi’s involvement in a murder plot against a Sikh extremist leader on American soil. He said this with respect to the deterioration in diplomatic ties between the two formerly friendly countries, in the aftermath of the killing of Canada-based pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
According to a report published by CBC, the Canadian prime minister said he has sensed a change in India’s tone with Ottawa after the US allegations surfaced. “I think there is a beginning of an understanding that they can’t bluster their way through this and there is an openness to collaborating in a way that perhaps they were less open before,” he said.
He added: “There’s an understanding that maybe, maybe just churning out attacks against Canada isn’t going to make this problem go away.”
On September 18, Trudeau had publicly alleged that agents of the Indian government were involved in Nijjar’s murder. Months later came the revelation that the US Justice Department in November charged a man accused of orchestrating an unsuccessful plot to assassinate Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
In his first response to these allegations, however, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is “deeply concerned about the activities of certain extremist groups based overseas” and, in an exclusive interview with Financial Times, said: “These elements, under the guise of freedom of expression, have engaged in intimidation and incited violence.”
Both Nijjar and Pannun are designated as “terrorists” in India, even as the central government has tried to direct the world’s attention to extremist groups operating against national interests on foreign land.
After the US revelations, Canadian officials pressed India to cooperate in its investigation into Nijjar’s murder.
While India had angrily rejected Canada’s claim calling them “absurd” and “motivated”, by contrast, the country said it was taking the US indictment seriously and investigating.
Both the US and Canada are seeking to build better ties with India to counter Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region. “We don’t want to be in a situation of having a fight with India right now over this. We want to be working on that trade deal. We want to be advancing the Indo-Pacific strategy,” Trudeau told the CBC.
“But it is foundational for Canada to stand up for people’s rights, for people’s safety, and for the rule of law. And that’s what we’re going to do,” he added.
(With agency inputs)
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