BRITAIN should show more support for India in its diplomatic row with Canada, India’s former foreign secretary said last night.
“Britain could have played a diplomatically mature and balanced hand – instead, one Labour leader supported another,” said former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal last night.
Relations between Ottawa and New Delhi have plummeted since Canadian PM Justin Trudeau blamed Indian PM Narendra Modi for ordering the death of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia last year,
The 45-year-old had campaigned for an independent Sikh nation, known as Khalistan, to be formed within the Indian state of Punjab, and had been designated a “terrorist” in July 2020 for alleged Khalistani-related violence.
In September, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau took the unusual step of publicly stating that there was “credible” information linking Indian government agents to the murder of Nijjar. India vehemently rejected the allegations as “absurd” and accused Canada of harbouring terrorists and “anti-Indian elements” who were a threat to the Indian state.
Earlier this week he accused Modi’s government of being involved in homicides, extortions and other violent acts targeting Indian dissidents on Canadian soil.
Trudeau says he received intelligence that made it “incredibly clear” that India was involved in the killing.
Police have since charged four Indian nationals over the death.
And on Monday Royal Canadian Mounted Police claimed there had been “over a dozen credible and imminent threats to life” which “specifically” focused on members of the pro-Khalistan movement.
It led to both countries expelling top envoys and diplomats, ramping up already strained tensions.
On Wednesday the Foreign Office waded into the row, by calling on India to respect and “cooperate with Canada’s legal process”.
But this was not the FCDO’s first comment, said former India foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal last night.
“The original statement from the UK was much more cautious and did not extend the kind of support that Canada wanted. I can only assume that Trudeau phoned Sir Keir Starmer, one Labour leader to another, and said ‘look , you’d better support me more clearly.”
In fact , according to Ottawa, Sir Keir Starmer and Justin Trudeau shared a phone call on Monday night in which they discussed recent developments related to a “targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India”.
“The second statement duly mentioned India and asked it to cooperate with Canada’s process,“ said Mr Sabil.
He accused Trudeau of pursuing “vote bank politics” in a bid to save his political career.
In his ninth year as prime minister, Trudeau’s approval rate has plummeted from 63 per cent when he was first elected to 28 per cent in June of this year.
“Domestically, Trudeau’s back is against the wall. He now runs a minority government and is losing in the polls. So he is dependent on the Sikh vote in Canada and particularly support from the New Democratic Party (NDP) led by Jagmeet Singh,” said Sibal.
“Shockingly, even today, Singh has a large portrait of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the Sikh mastermind of the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing, which killed 329 people, in his office.”
The UK’s role is more about one Labour leader supporting another, than any thought-out geopolitical view, he said.
“I can understand why the UK should tell India to cooperate with Canada,“ he added.
“But what surprises me is that, right from the start, not once has Britain called upon Canada to cooperate with India about India’s concerns regarding Khalistani extremists.
“Britain could have played a diplomatically mature, balanced hand if, indeed, they it does to see some kind of solution to this issue.”
Ominously, he added: “We have a dialogue within the G7 and the G20. I don’t think it is very helpful if Trudeau is given free reign to do what he likes just for domestic political reasons.”
Last night Kuldeep Shekhawat, President of the Overseas Friends of BJP based in Wembley, London, challenged Canada to share the intelligence it claims to have which implicates India with its “five eyes” partner, Britain.
“Relations between the UK and India are deep and long – we have been partners in one way or another for the last 250 years. We have a sacred shared history,” he said.
“Canada is accusing India of colluding with terrorists. Not even Pakistan has accused India in this way.
“India is prepared to obey international law. But to do so, it must be allowed to view the evidence that Canada claims it has. Our external affairs minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, has time and again asked to see the evidence that Canada claims to possess. It has not been forthcoming. So on what basis can India act?”
He added: “Britain has the opportunity to play a concert and positive role by asking Canned to prove the proof and to show it to a fellow Five Eyes partner.
“Once that happens, the UK can speak to India. But this has not happened.”
Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute , said: “There is every reason to suppose that Trudeau’s low popularity rating at home has played a part in the way he has handled this issue,
“His decision to save his political life comes as he falls farther behind Pierre Poilievre in national polls.”
But what is really telling about this affair is Sir Keir Starmer’s reaction, he said.
“Starmer has had a terrible 100 days, and has fumbled in very stupid ways,” he said
“In Trudeau virtue -signalling fashion, we have had the insane handover of the Chagos islands, which was entirely unnecessary and a boon to China.
“But while Trudeau keeps making the same mistakes again and again, it is not yet clear whether Starmer is capable of learning from his mistakes.
“Incidents like this, the way he has misjudged the Canada-India affair, do not bode well.”