Can the return of Donald Trump as US President help resolve the deepening diplomatic crisis between the two nations? Only time will tell.
New Delhi/Toronto: India’s diplomatic relations with Canada hit an all time low this week with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) saying that the threat to Indian diplomats in Ottawa has increased. In the weekly press briefing, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the MEA, said: “They (Indian diplomats) have been put under surveillance, which is unacceptable. We had also taken up the matter very strongly with the Canadian side on it”.
The Consulate General of India in Toronto has canceled several consular camps, initially planned to issue life certificates to Indian pensioners, due to security agencies' inability to provide minimum protection amid recent violence by Khalistani extremists.
This decision follows clashes between protesters bearing Khalistani flags and people at the Hindu Sabha Temple in Brampton. The clashes disrupted a consular event co-organized by the temple authorities and the Indian Consulate, marking yet another violent episode against Hindu establishments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also criticised the "cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats" in a deepening diplomatic row with Canada. Jaiswal further stated that New Delhi had asked for security for the Indian diplomats at the consular camp, which the Canadian government did not provide “Over the last year or even more, the kind of things that we have seen attacking Indian diplomats, threatening, intimidating, harassing Indian diplomats,” said the MEA spokesperson.
Alarmed by the increasing attacks, the Canadian National Council of Hindus (CNCH), the Hindu Federation, temple leaders, and other advocacy groups have issued a directive barring politicians from using temple facilities for political purposes unless they show "concrete efforts" to address the growing threat of Khalistani extremism in Canada.
The directive underscores a growing concern among Canada's Hindu community as incidents of religious intolerance continue to rise under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government. The MEA spokesperson said that communications of the consular staff in Ottawa, Canada, were being intercepted. He said that India looks at such surveillance to be “in flagrant violation of relevant diplomatic and consular conventions.”
The diplomatic relations between the two countries have strained since Trudeau alleged Indian government officials' involvement in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has also withdrawn Sanjay Kumar Verma, High Commissioner to Canada and other targeted officials from the country. India also expelled six Canadian diplomats, and in retaliation, Ottawa also expelled six Indian diplomats.
