The Canada-India relationship

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, together with his wife and child. Archive image. Sean Kilpatrick/AP 

 

"Disaster if Canada's accusations are not true"  

 

It is difficult to assess the accusations made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau against India, writes Zack Beauchamp in an analysis for Vox. It was earlier this week that Trudeau came out and said that there is information indicating that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead in Canada in June.  

 

Beauchamp notes that Canada shared its intelligence with several allied countries before making its accusations public.  

 

"It would be a disaster for Trudeau, both at home and abroad, to make such accusations if they later turn out to be false," he writes. 

 

Sushant Singh writes in Foreign Policy that for a long time there has been an Indian concern that the Sikh separatist movement will grow stronger. Among other things, after the agricultural protests in 2020, when a large part of the protesters were Sikhs. Singh also writes that India risks "beginning a journey towards the abyss" if politicians do not hold the country's intelligence services accountable for mistakes made.  

 

In an analysis in CNN, Rhea Mogul writes that experts believe that Canada and India, despite the frosty atmosphere, should be able to find their way back to a better relationship.  

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Brendan Smialowski / AP  

 

After the designation: US demands that India "take responsibility"  

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expects India to "take responsibility" after Canada accused the country of being involved in the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, reports CBS. He also says the US is actively coordinating with Canada and is urging India to cooperate with the Canadian investigation.  

 

- We are extremely vigilant about all cases of alleged transnational oppression, something we take very, very seriously, says Blinken.  

 

Canada says it has evidence, in the form of intelligence, that points to the Indian government's involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was shot dead by masked men in the province of British Columbia in June.