India-Canada row: tit-for-tat moves over killing of Sikh separatist could derail long-term ties
Both countries enjoyed strong ties in trade and other areas until the row over the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh NijjarThere had been warning signs that relations between India and Canada could worsen, but they were unheeded, analysts sayIndiaBiman MukherjiPublished: 9:00pm, 19 Sep, 2023Why you can trust SCMP
India’s tit-for-tat expulsion of a Canadian envoy over the killing of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver could snowball into a long-term deterioration of ties between two countries which have otherwise enjoyed strong trade, investment and people-to-people to contacts, analysts have said.On Tuesday, New Delhi rejected as “absurd” accusations by Ottawa that Indian intelligence agents were involved in the June murder of Canadian man Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.Hours earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had told an emergency parliament session that his government had “credible allegations” linking Indian agents to the death of Nijjar, an exiled Sikh leader. It was an “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”, he said.Nijjar had campaigned for an independent Sikh nation known as Khalistan, a movement that had rocked India’s Punjab state in the 1980s and early 1990s. Today, the advocates are mostly among Punjabi overseas diaspora, many of whom are settled in Canada. India has often complained to Canada’s government about the activities of Sikh hardliners.
03:15
Canadian PM says authorities investigating ‘credible’ links to India on Sikh leader’s murder
Canadian PM says authorities investigating ‘credible’ links to India on Sikh leader’s murder
Analysts say the warning signs for a potential deterioration in the bilateral relationship should have been heeded long ago.
