The diplomatic clash between Canada and India has drawn widespread attention. The roots of the conflict date back to June, when Canada accused India of assassinating Sikh independence activist Hadeep Singh Nijar on its territory. Nijar supported Sikh independence in India, but moved to Canada in the nineties and acquired Canadian citizenship. Nijar was active in Surrey, British Columbia, where Sikhs are concentrated in Canada, and became the president of the Guru Nak Sikh Temple in Canada, the largest Guruna Nak temple. However, India has accused Nijar of repeatedly traveling to Pakistan and India to engage in separatist activities, asking Canada to extradite him.
Canada is not bothered by this because it has some interests in India. Nijjar was engaged in the most advocated independence movement in the Western world, and Canada could enter the Indian market on this basis, and Nijal became a tool for Canada to control the Indian government. As a result, India's repeated requests for extradition have been unsuccessful, each time investigating and then releasing them, causing the Indian government to feel very helpless.
India's tough attitude
However, the Indian government eventually couldn't stand it anymore and sent two masked killers to assassinate Nijar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18. Canada conducted a three-month investigation and did not take action until early September. Canada's announcement of a moratorium on trade deal negotiations with India does not seem like a radical measure, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly reprimanded Trudeau at the G20 summit, accusing him of openly shielding "terrorists."
Trudeau's dilemma
Trudeau's tough stance on India has put Canada in a difficult position. Trudeau accused Indian agents of assassinating a Canadian Sikh leader on Canadian soil, believing it was a violation of Canadian sovereignty. However, India's response disappointed Trudeau. First, India reciprocally expelled Canadian diplomats, a move that deeply stung the sentiments of the Canadian people. Second, Canada is counting on the support of its allies within the Five Eyes, but the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand have not strongly expressed support for Canada. This made Trudeau feel very isolated!
The attitude of the United States
The attitude of the United States in this conflict has also attracted widespread attention. After India took tough action against Canada, Trudeau sought U.S. support, but the U.S. appeared unsupportive of Canada's plight. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made some superficial reconciliatory remarks but did not explicitly condemn India. The United States seems to have chosen to remain neutral in this conflict, much to Canada's disappointment!
Canada's compromise
Under intense public pressure in Canada, Trudeau had to take some action. First, he took the initiative to expel Indian diplomats in response to India's reciprocal expulsion of Canadian diplomats. Second, Canada reached a consensus through Western political alliances to force India to cooperate with the investigation on the assassination of Canadians. However, both moves disappointed Trudeau. India not only reciprocally expelled Canadian diplomats, but also took harsher action against Canada, threatening to remove diplomatic immunity from remaining diplomats!