India – Canada Relations

Context:

Recently, India criticized the tableau that was part of a parade in Brampton City of Ontario province which celebrated Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

It was part of an annual parade by Canadian Sikh separatist or “Khalistani” groups to mark their protest against Operation Bluestar, in 1984.

Earlier Such Incidents:

In 2002, Toronto-based Punjabi-language weekly Sanjh Savera greeted Indira’s death anniversary with a cover illustration of her murder.
In 2022, over 100,000 Canadian Sikhs took part in voting for the Khalistan Referendum in Brampton, Ontario which was organized by pro-Khalistani group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).

India’s reaction to this action:

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said the failure to act against these groups was due to a desire to cater to Canadian “vote-banks” that the much broader community of about 8,00,000 Sikhs constitute.
He added that the culture of validating violence as an acceptable form of protest was one that should concern Canada’s leadership as well, given past incidents such as the bombing of an Air India flight in 1985.
He said the incident was part of a broader pattern, indicating that these forces pose a real challenge not only to the India-Canadian relationship but also to Canada itself.

A Look on India – Canada Relations:

Both shared values of democracy, pluralism, expanding economic engagement, regular high level interactions and long-standing people-to-people ties:
Political:
- Both India and Canada share commonalities in Parliamentary structure and procedures.
Economic:
- Bilateral trade between India and Canada stands at more than USD 5 billion.
- Both are working toward a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA).

Security:
- A Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) with Canada was signed in 2010 and came into force in 2013.
- Both collaborate closely in international fora particularly through the UN, Commonwealth and G-20.
- Both have signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in 1994 (operationalised in 1998) and Extradition Treaty in 1987.
- The Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism was set up in 1997.

Science and Technology:
- Focused on promoting Industrial R&D which has potential for application through development of new IP, processes, prototypes or products
- Department of Biotechnology under IC-IMPACTS program implements joint research projects in health care, agri-biotech and waste management
- The Department of Earth Science and Polar Canada have started a programme for exchange of knowledge and scientific research on Cold Climate (Arctic) Studies.
- Cooperative and commercial relations in the field of Space since 1990s mainly on space science, earth observation, satellite launch services and ground support for space missions
- ISRO and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have signed MOUs in the field of exploration and utilization of outer space
- ANTRIX, the Commercial arm of ISRO, has launched several nanosatellites from Canada

People-to-People:
- Canada hosts one of the largest Indian diasporas in the world, which account for more than 3% of its total population.

Development of COVID-19 vaccines:
- India has offered to make available its production capacities in PPEs, pharmaceutical products and vaccines to Canadian companies in collaboration

A look on Challenges of India – Canada Relations:

Khalistani issue:
- Such Activities have espoused the Khalistan sentiments have contributed greatly to the India–Canada rift.
- While the Canadian government is within its rights to protect free speech and expression in its country, it must understand India’s concern that such an action constitutes inflammatory hate speech, and could fuel radicalism.

- Complex labor laws, market protectionism, and bureaucratic regulations are roadblocks for Indo-Canadian trade relations.

Way Forward:

Such kind of glorification of past violence must be condemned by one and all irrespective of one’s caste and creed. Such unlawful acts have no place in any peaceful community and society across the world.
Both India and Canada are big democracies and they should take such issues seriously to build healthy relations between them.
Given that Khalistani protests have been seen in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and parts of Europe, the Indian government must now chalk out a broader diplomatic strategy to ensure a more effective way of dealing with the problem, which could even be discussed by using the G-20 Presidency.

Additional Information:

About Operation Blue Star:

The largest internal security mission of the Indian Army.
The Operation was Indira Gandhi’s response to the law-and-order problems that were occurring in Punjab at the time as a result of the spread of the Khalistan movement.
Under Operation Blue Star, the orders were given to Indian soldiers to drive out Sikh militants who were stockpiling weapons in Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple).
Supporters of Khalistan had taken refuge at Amritsar’s Golden Temple’s Akal Takht complex in the 1980s.
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who seized control of the Akal Takht complex in Amritsar’s Golden Temple, was the target of the Blue Star operation.
- On October 31, 1984, the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took place at her home in New Delhi, months after the Indian Army had conducted Operation Bluestar.

Khalistan movement:

The movement is a fight for a separate, sovereign Sikh state in present day Punjab (both India and Pakistan).
The movement was crushed in India following Operation Blue Star (1984) and Operation Black Thunder (1986 and 1988).
However, it continues to evoke sympathy and support among sections of the Sikh population, especially in the Sikh diaspora in countries such as Canada, the UK, and Australia.

News Source: The Hindu