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'Canada doesn't want to de-escalate and neither does India. There is war when one party wants it, but peace is won by both parties.'
"We have to be realistic that America and Canada are working together. To my mind, America is milking it to their advantage," says retired Ambassador K P Fabian about the diplomatic showdown between India and Canada.
During his posting in Ottawa, Ambassador Fabian was attacked by Khalistan supporters in Manitoba. He was unhurt.
"Our youngsters who had the Canadian dream to study, find good jobs and have a good life there, I'm sorry to say, but that dream has become rather distant," Ambassador Fabian tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
Has there been a situation in our diplomatic past where Indian diplomats have been designated as 'persons of interest' by foreign governments?
I cannot think of any similar situation since I joined the service sixty years ago.
The ministry of external affairs has said that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau government's support for extremism and separatism against India.
What could such steps be?
Let us look at what has happened so far. India summoned the Canadian acting high commissioner and told him that he and six diplomats are being expelled.
This happened on Monday evening at around 7:30 pm. According to the Washington Post, the Canadians are claiming that they had expelled our high commissioner and probably six others before that.
The Washington Post has reported that there was a meeting between Ajit Doval, our national security advisor, and his Canadian counterpart in Singapore on October 12, 2024, and at the end, Doval told them to treat the discussion as if no such conversation took place.
Ajit Doval correctly said that there was no conversation which is a diplomatic way of saying that the conversation be kept confidential as it is often done in diplomacy.
But the Canadians have gone to the media and have said that Doval said that Lawrence Bishnoi is an international terrorist.
In other words, Canadians have violated the diplomatic norm.
A good diplomat is clear and firm when necessary, not tough and rough. When necessary, a diplomat keeps things confidential, and does not speak through the media.
On September 18, 2023, Justin Trudeau had said in the Canadian parliament that there were 'credible allegatuons' of involvement of Indian agents in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing.
The Canadian foreign minister said that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is conducting an investigation. My question to the Canadian prime minister is why did he not wait till the investigation was completed?
Why did he jump the gun? He did so because there is a domestic political necessity and he is dependent on the support of those who support Khalistan.
Since India-Canada relations hit rock bottom last year when Trudeau made the allegations in parliament and now with Monday's developments, where do we go from here?
Is there any scope for improvement?
In this context, my view is that India-Canada relations are not going to improve so long as Justin Trudeau is PM.
One more point I want to bring to notice is that the Washington Post reported that the Canadian foreign minister said that at one stage they had asked India to lift the diplomatic immunity of our high commissioner and others.
We naturally refused it, and so they wanted to expel them. India has taken the correct decision by recalling our high commissioner and others.
So I'm afraid, the diplomatic relations are at the lowest possible ebb and my prayer is, that both governments find a way to de-escalate it. But I did not see any signs.
As long as Trudeau is prime minister, there is not going to be any de-escalating.
The Canadian election is next year and there is a possibility that it might be advanced. Their economy is in a bad shape and it seems unlikely that Justin Trudeau will be re-elected as prime minister.
Is there some room for de-escalation in the interim?
There was room, but it was not availed of. For example, if the Canadians honestly concluded that the high commissioner was involved, there was another way of doing it. They could have asked India to transfer him in the normal course, away from the media and public glare.
Canada doesn't want to de-escalate and neither does India. There is war when one party wants it, but peace is won by both parties.
Are our relations with Canada as tense or similar to our relations with Pakistan? Trudeau has used very harsh words against India.
Similar, but not the same.
Yes, unfortunately Trudeau has been using words which are not an example for diplomatic language. The MEA also responded in unusually strong words.
When A says something which it shouldn't, then B will also respond by saying something it should not. This reinforces the escalatory cycle.
What bearing will this have on the Indian investigation team currently in Washington, DC to investigate the alleged involvement of an Indian official in the alleged plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Panun?
We have to be realistic that America and Canada are working together. I'm not in the government so I read information from open sources only.
To my mind, America is milking it. The Americans bring up the Gurpatwant Singh Panun investigation from time to time while other negotiations with India are going on and exploit it. They take advantage.
Assuming that what they allege has happened and they seem to be scandalised, there's no reason for them to be scandalised because the CIA does it all the time.
What concerns does this diplomatic confrontation between India and Canada raise for the Indian community in Canada?
There is a large Indian community who are doing very well. I don't think any harm will come to the community because white Canadians are peaceful. But there is a risk to the temples in Canada. There are about 180 temples. The Khalistanis might get emboldened and might either threaten violence or commit violence against these temples.
Our youngsters who had the Canadian dream to study, find good jobs and have a good life there, I'm sorry to say, but that dream has become rather distant, to put it mildly.
That is a heavy cost. Also, Canadian investment is important for us. So far, that has not gone down and trade is doing well. But if this crisis persists, I'm afraid it will affect investments.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com