External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has made a stark contrast between India’s fraught ties with Canada and that of the US, saying that one justifies terrorist and extremist activities in the name of freedom of speech, unlike the other. He made these remarks during an interview with TOI.
In November, an Indian national was charged with plotting to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States. This development came two months after neighbouring Canada publicly linked Indian intelligence to the June killing of another Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The White House stated that the Biden administration is treating the alleged plot to assassinate Pannun on American soil with ‘utmost seriousness’ and has raised the issue with New Delhi. Ottawa’s accusations were dismissed as “absurd” but in response to Washington, New Delhi formed a committee to probe the matter.
When asked whether the US could have been more considerate of India’s position in the way it handled the Pannun episode, Jaishankar said, “The first is when the Americans believed they had an issue, whether their belief is validated or not only the court can decide, they came to us and said look we have these concerns and we are sharing this with you and would like you to find out what’s happening. The Canadians did not do this.”
Distinguishing between the two countries, Minister Jaishnkar pointed out that the US takes stronger a position on the “misuse of freedoms” than Canada. “Second, the US does not justify these separatist, terrorist, extremist activities in the name of freedom of speech. We have seen the US taking a much firmer position on misuse of freedoms than we have seen Canada take. Canada has also on occasions very openly interfered in our politics. We all remember events in Punjab. I think the only PM in the world who publicly commented on it was the Canadian PM. I’d say we have apples and oranges here and I’d not mix up the two,” he added.
This criticism comes as India and Canada have hit a low after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of playing a role in Nijjar’s killing in Surrey. India argues that Canadian politics have given space to Khalistani forces and allowed them to indulge in actions that hurt bilateral relations.
“The issue at heart is the fact that in Canadian politics, these Khalistani forces have been given a lot of space and have been allowed to indulge in activities which I think are damaging to the relationship, clearly not in India’s interest, and not in Canada’s interest either,” Jaishankar said in a recent interview. “But, unfortunately, that is the state of their politics,” he told ANI.
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