Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Everybody expected it. Canada has just followed the script.
With anti-India activities in Canada going unchecked, Ottawa cannot sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Delhi. Period.
After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced a frosty welcome in New Delhi during the G-20 Summit (September 9 and 10) and returned home disappointed with a 36-hour delay, there was little doubt that Ottawa would postpone the forthcoming delegation-level meeting for the long-overdue Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Delhi, scheduled for October.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, during the G-20 Summit, demonstrated to Trudeau India’s displeasure with Canada doing little to check the Khalistani activities on its soil. It is no secret that Trudeau’s government is running with support from the pro-Khalistani New Democratic Party (NDP), headed by Jagmeet Singh.
Canada is home to one of the largest communities of Indian origin, with some 4 percent of its population being of Indian heritage (1.3 million people).
India is Canada’s 11th-largest export market and 12th-largest trading partner overall. Canada’s economic partnership with India is about USD 100 billion. The two-way trade is worth USD 10.5 billion and services exceed USD 6.67 billion, the media reported.
On Friday, Canada announced the postponement of an October trade mission to India, Al Jazeera said.
A spokesperson for Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng confirmed it on Friday. Shanti Cosentino said: “At this time, we are postponing the upcoming trade mission to India.”
Citing “certain political developments” in Canada as the reason for the pause in the negotiations, she added that talks will resume once issues are settled between the two governments.
In May, the two countries had indicated they could reach an interim trade deal by the end of 2023. Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng and her Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal, in a joint statement, said they hoped to boost trade and investment.
But the Khalistani activists spoiled all this.
PM Modi, in a pull-aside discussion with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit, raised “strong concerns” about the relentless anti-India activities by extremist elements in Canada. It was essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.
“The Prime Minister conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement after the Modi-Trudeau meeting.
It added, “The nexus of such forces with organized crime, drug syndicates, and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well. It is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.”
Even while Trudeau was in India for the G-20 Summit, Khalistani secessionists held a so-called ‘referendum’ in Surrey, British Columbia province. They abused Indian leadership and made remarks against the territorial integrity of India.
Recently, they vandalized a Hindu temple in British Columbia with Khalistan referendum posters, Australia Today reported.
Canada’s trade mission was to be part of its Indo-Pacific strategy and New Delhi was described as an “ideal destination” for a Team Canada Trade Mission. “Canada and India have a mutual interest in expanding their commercial relationship and growing people-to-people connections,” Ottawa said.
However, India’s relations with Canada, which has the largest Sikh population in the world after India, have remained strained over increasing Khalistani activities.
Asked whether Khalistani activities and “foreign interference” were discussed in the meeting, a defiant Trudeau told reporters that Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest, “and it is extremely important to us.”
“At the same time, we are always there to prevent violence and push back against hatred,” he had said, adding that it is important to remember that the actions of the few do not represent the entire community or Canada.
In other words, he indirectly supported the NDP activists and refused to take strong action against the Khalistanis.
India had last year even served demarche to Canada, asking it to stop the so-called Khalistan referendum organized by a proscribed organization in Ontario. New Delhi asked Ottawa to act against those promoting terror and violence against the largest democracy in the world.
Banned organizations like Sikhs For Justice, headed by designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, held the so-called Khalistan referendum on September 10, at a gurdwara in British Columbia.
Sensing trouble ahead of the G-20 Summit in New Delhi, Trudeau’s government had last month requested a “pause” on trade talks with India but gave no reason, the media reported.
India and Canada first launched negotiations for a trade deal in 2010. After a lull, they restarted the talks in 2022 with renegotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPTA).