“Reminiscent of relations with Pakistan”, says US-based expert as Canada-India tension escalates

Oct 15, 2024

Washington, D.C. (USA), October 15 (ANI): Director of South Asia Institute’s Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman said that it is hard to be optimistic of India-Canada relationship. He further said that the what we should hope for is that it the relation doesn’t get worse. He said, “One could not have imagined that things in this relationship could get worse, but they have. I think that this is a relationship that's now hit rock bottom and indeed, looking at recent developments, certainly is reminiscent of India's relations with Pakistan in terms of these extremely serious allegations being made, in terms of senior diplomats being expelled, as well the use of blistering language in government statements, it's all there and of course, the core allegation that we're hearing from India that Canada is sheltering and sponsoring anti-India terrorists. This is what we're used to hearing India say about Pakistan. Canada does not consider that it is harbouring extremists and terrorists and certainly this is something that India very rigorously disagrees about. This comes back to the issue of there being so many factors at play. This government in Canada has taken a series of decisions that include expressing support for Sikhs in India, in terms of the farmers' movement in India. I was struck how in this long statement there was indeed an explicit reference to Justin Trudeau and his government...That reflects long-standing anger in New Delhi about Justin Trudeau and the government's actions and politics that have contributed to this decision. New Delhi feels that Canada does not want to address those. It is hard to be optimistic of India-Canada relationship.”