Canada’s Trudeau sees shift in India relations after US plot revealed, report says
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Prime minister Justin Trudeau said Canada does not want to be in a situation of having a fight with India over the revelation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he senses a change in India’s tone with Ottawa after the United States warned New Delhi about its involvement in a thwarted plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader on US soil, the CBC reported on Dec 20.
“I think there is a beginning of an understanding that they can’t bluster their way through this and there is an openness to collaborating in a way that perhaps they were less open before,” Mr Trudeau said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
“There’s an understanding that maybe, maybe, just churning out attacks against Canada isn’t going to make this problem go away,” he added.
Mr Trudeau announced on Sept 18 that Canadian intelligence agencies were pursuing credible allegations
That revelation upended diplomatic ties between the two countries.
The US Justice Department in November charged a man accused of orchestrating an unsuccessful plot
The Justice Department alleged that an Indian government official directed the plan.
US officials did not name the targeted person.
After the US revelations, Canadian officials pressed India to cooperate in its investigation of the June murder, which drew renewed attention to the movement for a Sikh homeland in northern India
New Delhi had angrily rejected Canada’s claim, sparking a diplomatic row, with both sides expelling diplomats and trade talks potentially destabilised.
By contrast, India said it was taking the US indictment seriously and investigating
Both the US and Canada are seeking to build better ties with India to counter Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
“We don’t want to be in a situation of having a fight with India right now over this. We want to be working on that trade deal. We want to be advancing the Indo-Pacific strategy,” Mr Trudeau told the CBC.
“But it is foundational for Canada to stand up for people’s rights, for people’s safety, and for the rule of law. And that’s what we’re going to do,” he said. REUTERS
