The withdrawal of diplomats is very close to the wooden hammer in the toolbox of international politics. The fact that 41 Canadian diplomats and their families are leaving India on Friday is a major blow in the dispute that has been escalating for weeks over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead by several masked men outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18. According to India’s anti-terrorism agency (NIA), Nijjar was linked to a group seeking to establish an independent Khalistan, a homeland for the minority Sikhs, in India’s northern state of Punjab. Nijjar was considered a terrorist in India. Canadian authorities believe he was killed by Indian intelligence. Nijjar had been a Canadian citizen since 2015.
At the G-20 summit in September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi about the matter, but Modi reportedly brushed him off. When Trudeau’s departure from Delhi was delayed due to a defect in his government machine, there was still an opportunity to resolve the conflict quietly. Instead, Trudeau sought publicity a week later, probably driven by the threat of publication in the Canadian press. He informed Parliament in Ottawa on September 18 that there was “credible information” linking Indian government officials to Nijjar’s killing.
According to the Indian press, Canada only wants to badmouth their country
Since then the air has been poisoned. The Indian Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations as “absurd”, diplomats were summoned to both countries and some were also expelled. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken intervened and said that the US was taking the incidents “very, very seriously”. Without directly accusing Delhi, Blinken said: “I think it is important for the international system that any country that might consider such actions does not do so.”
The Indian press and politicians were in rare agreement that Trudeau wanted to denigrate India in the world, including mocking lists of all the vain and silly appearances the Canadian prime minister had already made in India. Hardly any media addressed the justified suspicion. Instead, rumors were spread that Trudeau’s plane only took off late because cocaine was found on board. “The problem is Canada” was the headline of an article in the Times of Indiawhich claimed that “Canada could one day become the Pakistan of the West if it does not curb its Khalistani militancy”.
The ultra-right channel Republic TV aired a program titled #TrudeauBacksTerror, while news site NDTV published a column describing Canada as a country “with rising drug addiction and a range of highly concerning medical policies, including medical euthanasia.” NDTV was bought last December by multi-billionaire and Modi confidant Gautam Adani. The Indian press has been brought into line for years by the Hindu nationalist BJP government, which has been in power since 2014. Hence perhaps this ghostly unity.
India threatened to lift the immunity of diplomats
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said on Thursday evening that India had threatened to unilaterally withdraw official status from Canadian diplomats by Friday. “Given the impact of India’s actions on the security of our diplomats, we have allowed them to safely exit India,” Joly said at a news conference. India’s threat to waive diplomatic immunity is “unprecedented” and violates international law.
Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the departure of diplomats means Canada will have to reduce the number of embassy staff working on immigration. “We recognize the concerns and frustrations this situation may cause for families, educational institutions, communities and businesses across Canada.”
Around two million Canadians, around five percent of the total population, have Indian roots. About 770,000 of them are Sikhs. Indians are by far the largest group of students coming to Canada. They account for around 40 percent of international study permits. So there are many reasons to keep talking.