Canada and India
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar accused Canadian politicians of neglecting the apparent threat posed by the Khalistan activists in exchange for Sikh votes. “For us, how Canada has dealt with the Khalistan issue has been a long-standing concern… Very frankly, they seem to be driven by vote bank politics,” Jaishankar said in July 2023.
On 19 September 2023 the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India stated "We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.
"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern.
"That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new."
Hardeep Nijjar -- a vocal supporter of the Khalistan movement that advocates for a separate Sikh homeland in the Punjab -- was gunned down 18 June 2023 by two masked men in the parking lot of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, where he was president. Nijjar had asked Canadian authorities whether he should wear a bulletproof vest in the weeks before he was gunned down. Nijjar was the third high-profile Khalistani activist based abroad to die in a span of 45 days. Nijjar himself claimed that he was on a “hit list” and that there was a “pattern” in the killings of Khalistani activists.
Nijjar, who hailed from the Bharsinghpur village in Jalandhar, Punjab, moved from Punjab to Canada in 1997 and worked as a plumber. Nijjar was a supporter of the creation of a separate Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan, and was associated with several Khalistani outfits in Canada, like the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), and later became the head of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). He was the president of the Surrey Gurdwara body since 2020. Nijjarwas one of the most wanted terrorists in India. He was reportedly a key functionary in the Khalistani network across the world, and was declared an “individual terrorist” in India under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in July 2020.
Over the years, India had, several times, communicated its concerns about Nijjar's links to terrorist activities. In 2018, former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh handed over a list of wanted persons to Justin Trudeau with Nijjar's name included. Then in 2022, the Punjab Police sought the extradition of Nijjar as he was wanted in cases related to spreading terrorism in the state. Nijjar was wanted in several cases, including the 2007 blast that killed six and injured 42 in the city of Ludhiana in Punjab.
Trudeau announced to Parliament on 18 September 2023 that intelligence services were investigating "credible" information about "a potential link" between India's government and the killing. “Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” he said. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told reporters outside the House of Commons that Canada has expelled a top Indian diplomat “as a consequence” of the intelligence. The expelled official is Pavan Kumar Rai, who Joly said led the Canadian branch of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence service. “The allegations that a representative of a foreign government may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian here in Canada, on Canadian soil, is not only troubling but it is completely unacceptable,” she said. “If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other.”
Canada was not trying to provoke India when it accused it of being linked to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader, but wanted New Delhi to take the issue seriously, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on 19 September 2023. According to Reuters, Trudeau emphasized the gravity of the case, asserting that it carries profound implications for international law. He stated that “the government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that; we are not looking to provoke or escalate."
New Democratic Party [NDP] Leader Jagmeet Singh, a practicing Sikh of Punjabi descent, said the intelligence was “outrageous” and “shocking” in light of years of unconfirmed allegations of foreign interference in Canada by the Indian government. “We all knew as children that the Indian government commits many atrocities,” he said in Punjabi. “But we never thought we’d have to face this danger after coming here to Canada. The NDP is currently supporting the minority Liberal government through a confidence and supply agreement.
Canada and India have longstanding bilateral relations built upon shared traditions of democracy, pluralism and strong interpersonal connections. Canada is home to one of the largest communities of Indian origin, with approximately 4% of Canadians being of Indian heritage (1.3 million people). The deep cultural and political ties between Canada and India are strengthened by a growing network of official dialogues, agreements, memoranda of understanding and working groups. At the Ministerial level, Canada and India enjoy a strategic partnership underpinned by Ministerial Dialogues.
There is cooperation on counter terrorism issues through the JWG on Counter Terrorism. The 16th JWG on Counter-Terrorism was held in Ottawa from 2627 March 2019. A delegation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) visited India from 12-16 January 2020 and held discussions with Indian agencies on counter-terrorism issues. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team visited Canada on 04-05 November 2021 for furthering cooperation in combating terrorism.
India and Canada are pursuing successful cooperative and commercial relations in Space since 1990s mainly on space science, earth observation, satellite launch services and ground support for space missions. ANTRIX, the Commercial arm of ISRO, has launched several nanosatellites from Canada. ISRO in its 100th Satellite PSLV launched on 12 January 2018, also flew Canadian first LEO satellite, from Indian spaceport Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
India’s total trade with Canada (goods and services) in 2021-22 was US$11.68. India’s import from Canada in 2021-22 was US$3.1 billion and export to Canada in 2021-22 was US$ 3.7 billion. Bilateral trade in services in 2021 was US$ 4.88 billion. Major items of India's exports to Canada include gems, jewellery and precious stones, pharmaceutical products, ready-made garments, mechanical appliances, organic chemicals, light engineering goods, iron & steel articles, etc. India’s imports from Canada include pulses, newsprint, wood pulp, asbestos, potash, iron scrap, copper, minerals and industrial chemicals, etc.
The number of annual Indian immigrants to Canada more than doubled between 2016 and 2019, to nearly 90,000, more than migrated to the U.S. Critics of Trump’s 2020 executive order suspending the H1-B visa program dubbed the order the “Canadian job creation act.” According to the 2021 census, there are over 1.6 million people of Indian origin in Canada, making it the largest non-European ethnic group in the country. The Indian community has a significant presence in major Canadian cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. The first wave of Indian immigrants to Canada arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly as laborers and farmers. However, the majority of Indian immigrants arrived in Canada after the Immigration Act of 1967, which abolished the discriminatory immigration policies that had previously restricted non-European immigration.
Canada hosts one of the largest Indian Diasporas in the world, accounting for more than 3% of the total Canadian population and 700,000 NRIs. The Diaspora mainly lives in Toronto (Ontario), Vancouver (British Columbia) , Montreal (Quebec), Calgary (Alberta), Ottawa (Ontario) and Winnipeg (Manitoba) has done commendably well in every sector in Canada. In the field of politics, in particular, the present House of Commons (total strength of 338) has 19 Members of Parliament of Indianorigin. This includes three (03) Ministers in the Cabinet: Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand; Minister of International Development, Mr. Harjit S. Sajjan; and Minister of Seniors, Ms. Kamal Khera.
In 1908, Mackenzie King’s report on Indian immigration stated that “the native of India is not a person suited to this country… accustomed as many of them are to the conditions of a tropical climate, and possessing manners and customs so unlike our own people,” or, spoke of “their inability to readily adapt themselves to surroundings entirely different…”
The 1908 Continuous Journey Stipulation that primarily impacted immigrants from India and Japan. Canadian courts ruled "In that our fellow British subjects are of different racial instincts to those of the European race – and consistent therewith, their family life, rules of society and laws are of a very different character – in their own interests, their proper place of residence is within the confines of their respective countries in the continent of Asia, not in Canada… [Their customs will] give rise to disturbances destructive to the well-being of society and against the maintenance of peace, order and good government ... Better that people of non-assimilative race should not come to Canada, but rather that they should remain of residence in their country of origin…"
A priority market for Canada, in 2022, India was Canada’s 10th largest trading partner. India will be a key partner as Canada strengthens its economic links to the Indo-Pacific under a new, comprehensive strategy for the region. Canada and India are working toward a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA), and are committed to regularly holding Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment to explore ways to deepen the commercial relationship.
After 55 years of bilateral programming in India totaling $2.39 billion, Canada’s bilateral development assistance program came to an end in 2006 following a change in Indian government policy regarding aid. However, Global Affairs Canada continues to provide development assistance to India through Indian and Canadian Non-Governmental Organizations, and through multilateral mechanisms such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
Prime Minister (PM) Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to Canada in April 2015 elevated the bilateral relation to a strategic partnership. PM Justin Trudeau visited India from 18-24 February 2018. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, both Prime Ministers spoke twice to discuss issues of mutual concern. 3. On Canada’s request, India supplied 500,000 doses of India-made Covishield vaccines in March 2021. Both leaders had a bilateral meeting on 27 June 2022, on the margins of G7 Summit in Elmau, Germany.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
