New Delhi: When Jean Chrétien became the first Canadian Prime Minister to visit India in 1996, it was largely seen as an attempt to repair the damage done to the bilateral relationship in the decades prior. Ties were strained during the years of the Cold War when New Delhi’s warm ties with the Soviet Union were viewed with suspicion.
Then came the international backlash over India’s first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974 which then Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau (father of the current PM Justin Trudeau) called an act of “betrayal” since the plutonium used was produced by the Canadian aided nuclear reactor CIRUS.
That said, Chrétien’s 1996 visit seemed to have returned a glimpse of hope that was once seen when Canada and India first established diplomatic relations in 1947, based on a shared British Commonwealth experience, among other aspects. “Canada is back in India and we are here to stay,” was something Chrétien said often during his visit, for which he brought along eight premiers out of the 10 Canadian provinces and over 300 Canadian business leaders.
But whatever gains were made during this trip, dissipated two years later.
After India’s 1998 nuclear tests, Canada slapped sanctions on New Delhi. Reports noted that Lloyd Axworthy, then Canadian foreign minister, launched a “crusade” against India. These sanctions would only be lifted in 2001 and only in 2010 would the two countries sign a civil nuclear deal.
The number of ups and downs in India-Canada relations is perhaps why the bilateral relationship is often described as “chequered” or a “roller coaster ride”.
But experts say that in the last decade, the Khalistan issue has started to “define” the bilateral relationship. The recent expulsion of diplomats by the two countries after Trudeau accused India of playing a role in the death of Sikh terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, marked a new low.
“In 1990, Liberal Party leaders received the support of the World Sikh Organization (WSO) and the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) during a leadership race. So, it’s not new to see Canadian politicians pander to the Sikh diaspora,” explained Professor Ummu Salma Bava from School of International Studies, JNU.
“But in the last 10 years, Sikh separatists have been given enough of a space in Canadian politics to influence domestic issues unlike in the UK where such elements have not been given that kind of political patronage to influence the political agenda,” she added.
During the G20 Summit in Delhi this month, UK PM Rishi Sunak said his country does not tolerate any form of extremism or violence, adding that the UK is working with the Indian government to tackle Sikh extremism.
In contrast, Trudeau, when asked about the issue by reporters, said Canada will always defend freedom of expression and peaceful protest, while adding that his country will also push back against “hatred”.
1947-2001
After gaining independence in 1947, India established ties with Canada that year based on shared common British Commonwealth history and democratic values, among other aspects.
In the 1950s, they worked jointly in some areas of international relations such as in the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC), formed in 1953 to manage the exchange of prisoners of war after the Korean War.
But the two countries quickly found themselves on different sides of the Cold War. India’s ties with the Soviet Union weren’t viewed favourably by Canada, a founding member of NATO.
The 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 hurt bilateral relations in a major way. This is because India had sought the extradition of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the Sikh terrorist believed to be the mastermind behind the bombing, three years prior but the request was refused by then Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau. Over 300 people were killed in the attack, of which a majority were Canadian citizens. Parmar was the head of Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant organisation banned by countries including India, the US and Canada, among others.
India’s nuclear tests were two major lows for the bilateral relationship before the turn of the 21st century. Canada felt betrayed with the first test and after the second, its reaction was among the most hostile out of Western countries. “Relations reached a new low after the 1998 nuclear tests because of the human-security agenda of then-Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, which promoted global nonproliferation rather than Canada’s bilateral interests with India,” explained academic Arthur G. Rubinoff in a 2002 research paper.
Sanctions were subsequently slapped on India by cutting off all assistance except humanitarian aid, invitations for senior minister-level visits from India to Canada were withdrawn and it was clear that Canada, feeling betrayed in 1974, was seeking to punish India in 1998. But as author Prem K. Budhwar argued in a 2018 research paper, bilateral relations “did not remain frozen for too long”, unlike post 1974.
In April 2001, sanctions on India were lifted. It was believed to be economic considerations that spurred the change, and also the potential influence of a growing Indo-Canadian diaspora.
2001-2015
In 2003, when he visited India for a second time, Jean Chrétien made it clear that he wanted to mend Canada’s economic ties with India, albeit a decade after the latter liberalised its economy.
“India is the world’s largest democracy and Canada’s largest trading partner in South Asia. With an expanding middle-class and an emerging high-tech power with a young and dynamic business class, India represents an important market for Canadian goods, services and technology,” he said after witnessing the signing of several business deals between Indian and Canadian companies. The deals included a $70 million project to set up the first Four Seasons hotel in India.
Another major outcome during this trip was the setting up of a Consulate in Chandigarh.
Not to mention, Chrétien became the first Canadian PM to visit Punjab and the Golden Temple.
Back home, the Sikh diaspora formed an important voter base for the Liberal Party, and the party’s growing closeness with India-banned organisations like WSO, ISYF and BKI was no longer a secret. At the time, the proportion of Sikhs living in Canada — about 2 per cent of the national population — was slightly higher than the percentage of Sikhs living in India.
But the real high in India-Canada relations came after a changing of the guard in Ottawa. In 2006, the Liberals lost power and the Conservative Party made a comeback under the leadership of PM Stephen Harper. The bilateral relationship was upgraded to the level of a “strategic partnership” during his tenure.
“Countless senior Minister level visits were exchanged; the Canadian Prime Minister visited India twice; there were agreements galore; trade, economic cooperation and close bonding in other vital fields like energy, education, defence, science and technology,” wrote Budhwar, while describing the bilateral relationship under Harper.
The biggest achievement came in 2010 when Manmohan Singh and Harper signed a landmark civil nuclear deal. Harper said the two countries could no longer “live in the past of the 1970s”, noted a Times of India report.
This came five years after the Americans agreed to a civil nuclear deal.
The first consignment of Canadian uranium reached India in December 2015, officially putting an end to a 36-year pause in nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
2015-present
The Liberal Party returned to power in 2015, this time with Justin Trudeau at the helm. Similarly, New Delhi saw a changing of the guard with Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister in 2014. There was much speculation at the time of how these two new leaders would take bilateral relations forwards, especially at a time of growing Western apprehensions about China’s rise and the slow-yet-sure development of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy.
However, in 2017, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, dominated by the Liberal Party, passed a resolution declaring the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India an act of “genocide”.
This, along with Trudeau’s attendance at Khalsa parades in Canada, created a bleak backdrop ahead of Trudeau’s visit to India in 2018 which some termed a “disaster”.
Though he sought to build upon the gains made by Harper during this trip, Trudeau was not accorded the formalities expected for a head of government. Moreover, other incidents derailed the trip. First, Trudeau was welcomed at the airport by Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Shekhawat. Later, the Canadian high commissioner was found to have invited a Sikh extremist named Jaspal Atwal to a dinner to honour Trudeau in Delhi. (The invitation was eventually rescinded).
After the trip, at the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner in Canada, Trudeau poked fun at the visit calling it a “trip to end all trips”.
The last five years have seen individuals like Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, the head of a group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) — which has been banned by India — frequently call for Sikh referendums in Canada.
Parades glorifying Sikh militants including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Air India bomber Talwinder Parmar often take place in areas like Brampton where large Sikh populations reside. India has repeatedly raised the issue with Canadian authorities not to give space to such demonstrations.
This summer, bilateral tensions reached a high after protests took place in support of extremist Amritpal Singh, who was on the run from the Punjab police. Later, an annual “Sikh Martyrdom Parade” in Brampton that appeared to glorify the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi caught the attention of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who said it’s “not good” for the bilateral relationship.
The deaths of Sikh extremists in the last few months have only elicited stronger reactions from pro-Khalistan elements in Canada. Khalistan Tiger Force leader Hardeep Nijjar, Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar and UK-based chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Avtar Singh Khanda all died either through alleged murder or poisoning this year.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: How Hardeep Nijjar’s killing stoked row, leading to India & Canada’s tit-for-tat diplomat expulsions