Trudeau and India

The Diplomatic Disaster

Its been three years witnessing a diplomatic disaster for a Global Leader, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau on his State Visit to India, 2018 

But why its a Diplomatic Disaster?  What went wrong?  How Trudeau and India?

Let's look a glance in Tranquility wins

The trip started off on a disappointing note, as the Trudeau delegation was received at the airport by a minister of state, not even a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet.International and local observers speculated that Trudeau was being snubbed, given the cold shoulder, over unscrupulous ties between his Liberal Party and Khalistani separatists and extremists.

Trudeau has smiled his way through India, however, meeting with business executives, signing billions of dollars worth of business deals, posing for photographs with Bollywood actors, and donning Indian attire befitting his own Indian wedding reception. The Indians, for their part, have denied the Canadian prime minister is being snubbed (one unnamed official went as far as to call it “protocol”)

Behind 

The diplomatic brush-off has its roots in an Indian separatist movement from the 1980s and present-day Canadian domestic politics. In the 1980s, a Sikh separatist movement roiled the Indian state of Punjab, which, as India’s breadbasket, has always been among the wealthiest states. Sikhs are a minority in India. They make up about 2 percent of the country’s 1.2 billion people. But in Punjab, they are a majority, constituting about 60 percent of the state’s 27 million people. The militancy—and the government’s crackdown—was brutal. Bombs planted by militants went off in crowded markets, killing civilians. The Indian government’s response came through both its regular and paramilitary forces. Human-rights groups cited gross violations. Many prominent Indian officials, including Sikhs who make up a disproportionate amount of the military and police forces, were killed by the separatists. Top militant leaders were killed in the government’s response. Four events stand out in the minds of those who lived through the era: In June 1984, Indira Gandhi, who was India’s prime minister at the time, ordered her troops to enter the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine in Sikhism, to flush out militants who had taken refuge inside. The military operation, which was called Operation Bluestar, was successful—in that the face of the Khalistan movement, as the separatist movement was called, was killed in the operation. But Sikh religious sentiments were incensed by the violation of the holy site, which was damaged in the assault. Less than five months later, Gandhi’s Sikh bodyguards shot her dead at her home.

Link with Trudeau

Sikhs had migrated to Canada for decades, but the numbers swelled during the Indian government’s crackdown on the separatist movement in the 1980s. The community is still relatively tiny—about 1.4 percent of Canada’s 36 million people—but Sikhs are a significant presence in British Columbia (about 5 percent of the population) as well as in Ontario and Alberta (about 1.5 percent of the population in each province.) Many Sikhs are influential in Canadian politics and public life. but by no means all, of these Sikhs still support an independent Khalistan.

The public mood toward what should otherwise have been a mundane visit by a Canadian prime minister turned even more negative when it emerged that the Canadians had invited a Sikh separatist, now a Canadian citizen, convicted of the attempted murder of an Indian politician to a dinner with Trudeau at the Canadian High Commissioner’s residence in New Delhi.

The Poor Judgement

Trudeau’s partisan pandering went so far as attending a Khalsa Day parade in Toronto in 2017, where he gave a speech and was photographed in front of the yellow-and blue Khalistan separatist flag. Trudeau’s predecessor Stephen Harper refused to attend this event, and for good reason. These events feature militant Khalistani parade floats, posters and shrines dedicated to terrorists, and speakers calling for a violent upheaval in India. Trudeau’s poor judgement in attending this event was catching.

A Photograph

Jaspal Atwal was convicted of attempted murder in Canada in 1987 after he attempted to assassinate a visiting Punjabi cabinet minister, Malkiat Singh Sidhu, on Vancouver Island. At the time, Atwal was a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation — a terrorist group now banned in Canada. Atwal was already in India, his official invitation to a state dinner was circulating on social media, and he had already been photographed with top Liberal officials and Trudeau’s wife Sophie.

Finally in Rastrapathi Bhavan

The leaders finally met six days after Mr Trudeau arrived in India, and signed a raft of agreements reiterating Indo-Canadian ties. The visit strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries in key areas of mutual interest including trade and investment, energy, science and innovation, higher education, infrastructure development, skill development and space. Cooperation in security and counter-terrorism as well as exchange of views on global and regional issues of mutual interest will also form important components of the visit. 

PM Modi asserted that it is important that the two countries work together to fight terrorism. Modi said there should be no place for those who misuse religion for political goals.  The prime minister also made it clear that those who challenge India’s sovereignty and unity will not be tolerated.

"Trusted friend India, Canada’s natural partner, we share not only rich a history but a set of values that encourage a natural friendship between our two countries.” says Trudeau.

The Meeting cools the word fire on media.

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