Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng has postponed the Trade Mission of Canada in Indian which was planned for the month of October, five days after the head of state of both the countries met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. The cancellation, though no official reason has been given is based on the premise that Indian Prime Minister “snubbed” the Canadian PM, conducting only a short and informal meeting.
The Popular Narrative
It won’t come as a surprise to many Indians that Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab given the constant association of the people of Punjab with a Punjabi accent-ed “Canada”. This popular narrative finds its origin in the historical relationship of Punjabis with Canada from the pre-independent era, the Komagata Maru incident.
The origin of India- Canada Relationship however can be traced back to the 19th century when Punjabi Sikhs who worked for the British Army began settling in Canada. During the time, Canada was a British Colony. For these settled Sikh population, Canada became symbolic of the “New World”.
Today, according to the National Foundation for American policy, between 2012 and 2022, there was a 260% increase in permanent residents of Indian origin in Canada.
A Threatened India-Canada Narrative?
The Indian government has called out the Canadian government for promoting secessionist movements in the country, inciting violence against Indian diplomats and causing harms to the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship.
Though the presence of Khalistan separatist groups in Canada has challenged the relationship between the two countries in the past with the bombing of the Air India Aircraft in 1985, the re-triggering of the issue came with the burning of the Indian consulate in San Francisco by pro-Khalistan protestors.
The Indian diplomats have constantly raised the issue of Hindu temples being vandalised by Khalistan supporters in the region. They have also complained that the Canadian government’s soft-ness has allowed the Khalistan movement to bloom into a bigger movement with referendums being conducted in the state for the demand of Khalistan.
The pro-Khalistan sentiment mostly stems from the tragedy inflicted by Operation Blue Star followed by the riots that followed after the assassination of the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.
The absence of stringent measures could be attributed to political motives as Justin Trudeau’s majority in the Parliament depends on the support he receives from New Democratic Party’s Canadian Sikh politician, Jagmeet Singh who was once a part of a pro-Khalistan protest.
Thus, as a result of such rising tensions between India and Canada, trade negotiations between the two countries have been put on hold.
