The exchange of arms between India and Canada continues. This Thursday, October 17, 2024, India criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for being “casual” for having accused New Delhi of having violated the sovereignty of its country with the assassination in June 2023, in Vancouver, of a Sikh separatist leader, attributed by Ottawa to the Indian secret services.
During a hearing before the Commission on Foreign Interference on Wednesday October 16, Justin Trudeau declared that Canada had “clear indications, and certainly now even clearer, that India had flouted the sovereignty of Canada”reports theAgence France-Presse (AFP). Which India has denied, calling these allegations“absurd”. “Responsibility for the damage this casual behavior has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone”declared this Thursday Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that Canada had not provided any proof.
West France returns, in five questions, to the origin of diplomatic tensions between the two countries for a little over a year.
1. What exactly is Canada accusing India of?
Relations between the two countries have been very fresh since the assassination in June 2023, in Vancouver, of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who campaigned for the creation of an independent Sikh state in northern India called Khalistan. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau then declared that there was “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to this crime. Four Indian nationals have been arrested in connection with the murder.
The case saw a major escalation this week, after the Canadian federal police, the Royal Mounted Police (RCMP), announced on Monday that they were holding “evidence” as for “the involvement of agents of the Government of India in serious criminal activities in Canada”. In the process, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the ambassador to Ottawa, suspected of being involved in the Nijjar affair.
Read also: REPORTING. India-Canada tensions: Sikh separatists at the heart of the crisis
On Wednesday, during a hearing before the Commission on Foreign Interference, Justin Trudeau said the RCMP’s decision to reveal details about the involvement of Indian agents was “fully founded” in the interest of public safety. Ensuring that federal police have evidence that acts of violence against Canadians – including home invasions, extortion, and “even murders” – have been “permitted and in many cases ordered by the Indian government”the Prime Minister declared that “India had flouted Canada’s sovereignty”. He detailed actions involving, according to him, Indian diplomats “having collected information about Canadians who are opponents of or disagree with the Modi government, and then passing this information to criminal organizations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in order to lead to violence against Canadians”.
On Monday, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a press release relayed by theAFP to have “received a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are persons of interest” in the current investigation. “We do not have confidence in the current Canadian government’s commitment to ensuring their security”he added, indicating that the government has therefore “decided to recall the High Commissioner as well as other targeted diplomats and officials”. The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also described“absurd” allegations that India was involved in the murder, seeing it as a “strategy of defaming India for political purposes”.
In return, the Indian authorities “decided to expel” six diplomats including Canada’s charge d’affaires, Stewart Wheeler, as well as his deputy and four first secretaries, they declared earlier Monday, according to theAFP. “India now reserves the right to take further action in response to these latest efforts by the Canadian government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats”warned his Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Read also: Crisis between Canada and India: Blinken supports Ottawa by asking New Delhi to “cooperate”
India criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this Thursday for being “casual” for accusing New Delhi of having violated the sovereignty of his country. “Canada has not presented us with any evidence to support the serious allegations it has chosen to make against India and Indian diplomats”he added in a press release. If the tone rises with Ottawa, Delhi is being conciliatory with the American neighbor. According to a spokesperson for the US State Department, India assured Washington that it had fired a government employee indicted in the United States in November 2023 after a foiled assassination attempt targeting a Sikh independence activist in New York.
3. Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, at the center of diplomatic tensions?
Shot dead by two masked men in the parking lot of the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, near Vancouver, Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar had been a refugee in Canada since 1997 and was naturalized in 2015. Born in 1977 in the Indian state of Punjab, where nearly 60% of the population is Sikh and where the spiritual capital of this religion is located, Amritsar, he grew up in a context of violent insurrection for the creation of “Khalistan”, a Sikh homeland independent of India. It was at the age of 20 that he moved to Canada, a country which is home to 770,000 Sikhs, constituting 2% of the population and the largest community outside India. He founded a plumbing company there and became head of the Surrey Temple.
Read also: Five questions on the crisis between Canada and India after the assassination of a Sikh leader
According to press information relayed by theAFPHardeep Singh Nijjar was involved in organizing referendums for Sikh immigrants to Canada to demonstrate their support for “Khalistan”. The Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Indian services, had offered a reward of one million rupees ($12,000) for information leading to his arrest. The separatist was wanted in particular for “terrorism”, because he was held responsible for an explosion which left six dead and 42 injured in the city of Ludhiana in Punjab in 2007, according to the newspaper India Today. Unfounded accusations, according to the World Organization of Sikhs of Canada, a non-profit organization which claims to defend the interests of Canadian Sikhs, and rejected by Nijjar himself in the Indian media.
India has often complained to foreign governments, including Canada, about the activities of Sikh militants whom it accuses of wanting to rekindle the insurgency in Punjab. In 2018, the Canadian Prime Minister visited Punjab, where the state’s chief minister demanded action against Hardeep Singh Nijjar and eight other Sikh separatist leaders.
4. Who is behind the Bishnoi gang, accused of abuses in Canada?
Already known for carrying out assassinations and extortion in India, the Bishnoi criminal group is now accused of being involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, on behalf of the Indian state. “We believe this group is linked to Indian government agents”RCMP Deputy Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin said Monday.
The gang’s leader, Lawrence Bishnoi, is currently detained in the Indian state of Gujarat, where he faces trial for smuggling heroin from Pakistan. He was sentenced in 2019 to five years in prison on six charges, including attempted murder of police officers, drug smuggling and firearms possession. In the jail in Ahmedabad, the main city of Gujarat state, he would continue to run the gang from his cell. The son of a farmer, the 31-year-old law graduate was still a teenager when he got involved in organized crime in 2010, notably by intimidating his rivals in student politics, according to Indian police.
The gang made headlines in 2022 when rapper Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, known as Sidhu Moose Wala, was shot dead in the state of Punjab. The murder was claimed “on behalf of Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang” by a gangster.
The group claims to belong to the Bishnoi Hindu sect, originating from the deserts of Rajasthan and dating from the 15the century. Its members intend to defend nature and animals at all costs, and have 1.5 million followers. The gang notably issued death threats against Bollywood star Salman Khan for hunting two antelopes, which the Bishnoi community considers to be the reincarnation of their guru. Two members of the gang were arrested by Indian police in April for shooting up Salman Khan’s home in Mumbai. The actor was not injured. Police also blamed the gang after the assassination of Baba Siddique, a Mumbai politician who had close ties to Bollywood and Salman Khan.
5. What are the consequences for trade between the two countries?
As early as 2023, after Justin Trudeau declared that there was “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, India had temporarily restricted visas for Canadians and forced Canada to repatriate some of its diplomats.
Could the increased tensions in recent days between the two countries affect their trade? “Companies from two countries export and import according to their needsindicates Ajay Srivastava, of the analysis company Global Trade Research Initiative, interviewed by theAFP. Unless India or Canada decides to ban trade in certain sectors, bilateral trade is unlikely to be affected. » On the other hand, the diplomatic crisis makes a resumption of discussions for a free trade agreement, suspended last year, unlikely.
Before the Commission on Foreign Interference, Justin Trudeau assured Wednesday that his government did not want to find itself in a position of “quarrel with an important business partner”. Canada ranks 17e in terms of foreign direct investment in India. In total, Canadian pension funds have placed some 50 billion euros invested in India, according to the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Indian companies, for their part, have invested billions of euros in Canada, contributing to thousands of jobs, particularly in the technology sector with the giants TCS and Infosys. Canadian groups like the aircraft manufacturer Bombardier have a strong presence in India.
And what about student exchanges? By 2023, study permit applications submitted by Indians had already fallen by 15%. In addition to a possible effect of the crisis, the phenomenon was also explained by factors such as a sluggish labor market in Canada and more restrictive financial conditions imposed by Ottawa. More than two-fifths of international students in Canada come from India, which represents just over six billion euros each year for the education sector.
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