By naming the second most powerful person in India as having ordered offensive action against Khalistani elements in Canada—without producing proof—Canadian minister David Morrison did a hatchet job of trying to tarnish reputation. He was of course fronting for beleaguered PM Justin Trudeau, who is on a diplomatic wrecking ball.
With each swing, he is getting shriller and more desperate as the resonance he anticipated from voters isn’t quite building up. His domestic unpopularity made him a liability, which is why more and more powerful voices from within want him out to save his party from slipping into the abyss.
Developed democracies don’t make wild allegations from the pulpit; tinpot dictators like Kim Jong Un do. Good democracies provide hard evidence that can be corroborated within four corners of the law.
Had Trudeau managed to stitch it together, his administration could have easily presented it before a court hearing the case against the murder of Khalistani radical and Canadian national Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year. Instead, the prosecution sought at least five consecutive adjournments, possibly indicating the inferior quality of evidence.
If Trudeau said there were credible allegations the Indian government was involved in Nijjar’s killing, Morrison told The Washington Post the person alluded to was Union home minister Amit Shah.
The Indian foreign office admonished Canada for the baseless reference to Shah, adding such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties. Interestingly, while internal security is part of Shah’s portfolio, external threats—like the Khalistani one—are dealt with by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Canada has also just added India to its list of cybercrime adversaries, bunching it with known rogues like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
India has demonstrable strike ability beyond its geographical borders for global good on the high seas, like protecting shipments from piracy and on the dangerous Red Sea.
But coercive action elsewhere—except in Islamabad to dismantle terror factories—is not part of New Delhi’s foreign policy objectives unless Ottawa can prove otherwise. The onus is on Trudeau.
India is against his divisive agenda of tapping the Sikh sympathy votes in his land by harbouring radicals and criminals, not Canadians in general.