Fear of Canada but assurances to America, can the matter of conspiracy to kill Sikh leader in America become a problem for India?
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that India’s attitude has changed after some Indian officials were accused of involvement in the alleged plot to kill a Sikh leader in the United States.
Justin Trudeau also said that ‘it seems that the accusations from the US forced India to take a softer approach. Perhaps India has understood that this problem is not going to be solved by continuous rhetoric against Canada.
On the other hand, while reacting to the Canadian Prime Minister’s statement, Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Arndam Bagchi said that there has been no change in India’s position. Our position regarding Canada is that the real question is extremism, which needs to be addressed.
It should be noted that the United States had alleged last month that some Indian officials had plotted to assassinate a Sikh leader, Patwant Singh, which was foiled by the secret agents of the United States.
An Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, was also arrested in the Czech Republic in this connection and efforts are now being made to bring him to the United States for trial.
Details filed in a conspiracy case filed in a US court also link the man to the killing of separatist Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nagar in Canada last June.
After Najar’s murder, Justin Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament that Indian agencies were possibly involved in the murder, but India strongly denied the allegation.
India said that the Canadian government is supporting Sikh separatists and anti-India elements under vote bank politics.
Due to strong statements from both sides, relations between India and Canada worsened.
After Canada accused India, Indian diplomats were ordered to leave the country. India also expelled around 40 Canadian diplomats and suspended the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens for several weeks.
But when the US administration presented evidence of a failed plot to allegedly assassinate one of its Sikh citizens on India’s doorstep, India’s attitude was quite lenient.
The US says it has raised the issue at the highest level. A senior US official told the BBC that US President Joe Biden had sent the CIA chief and the Director of National Intelligence to Delhi to hold talks with Indian officials.
The newspaper “Financial Times” claimed in a report that when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States in June, President Biden raised the issue during a mutual conversation and issued a stern warning to India. .
Since then, the US has been raising the issue at various levels and demanding action against Indian government officials allegedly involved in the conspiracy.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said in an interview recently that the government is fully cooperating with US investigators and a high-level committee is probing all aspects of the case.
“India will not spoil relations”
After the accusation by the US, the attitude of the Indian government has been very soft and instead of the bitterness in the relationship, cooperation and cooperation between the two countries is emphasized.
After the US, India’s attitude towards Canada is also softening and Justin Trudeau, reacting to this changed attitude, said that India’s tone has changed after the US accusations.
Ajay Sawhney, head of the Institute of Conflict Management in India, says that the nature of the US case is different, while Canada, on the other hand, only made allegations and that too inside Parliament.
He says that India’s anger was that Canada was not controlling the anti-India elements active in its country.
Ajay Sawhney says that the conflict that has arisen will not affect India-US relations.
India-US relations are multifaceted. The diplomatic dispute certainly caused some bitterness, but both countries handled it very wisely. Both need each other so this issue will not spoil the relationship.
Drake J. Grossman, an expert on national security issues associated with the think tank Rand Corporation, writes, “America needs India more.”
India has an important role in the policy adopted by the Biden administration to stop the advance of China, but the exemptions given by the United States are not unlimited. If a similar move is made by India again in the future, the benefit gained from the closeness of relations may also be lost.
World affairs expert Michael Kugelman wrote that more information is now available about the failed assassination plot, but it will not have a major impact on relations.
“The White House learned about the plot in June, but the two countries did not cancel the high-level meetings,” he writes. Biden and Modi met at G20. The US did not take any retaliatory action, only saying that this should not happen again.
But there are some analysts who believe that this situation is too complicated and could spoil the relations between the two countries.
Lisa Curtis, head of the India-Pacific Program at the Center for New American Studies, wrote that ‘India must fully cooperate with the United States on this issue, otherwise the hard-won progress in the relationship between the two countries could be jeopardized. Is.’
But former Indian diplomat Panik Ranjan Chakraborty disagrees. While talking to BBC, he said that “if America wants to spoil its relations with India, then it can spoil but relations from India will not spoil.”
US and Canada should also take note of India’s concern about Khalistan and anti-India activities and take necessary steps. Anti-India activities should not be allowed in the name of freedom of expression and democracy.