Assassination of a Sikh independence leader in June 2023 has heightened tensions between Canada and India. India has dismissed the charges as baseless, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has claimed his country is examining credible allegations that Indian government operatives were related to the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Given that India is already displeased with Canada over its lenient treatment of Sikh demonstrators demanding a separate country, this news is likely to further strain relations between the two countries. It has been reported that a "key Indian diplomat" has been expelled from Canada. Currently stationed in Canada, the ambassador serves as the chief of India's foreign intelligence organization. Hardeep Singh Nijjar had advocated for the creation of an independent Sikh nation, Khalistan, out of the Indian province of Punjab. Indian authorities were looking for him after they labeled him a "terrorist" in July of 2020. "assassinated in a targeted shooting," the World Sikh Organization of Canada claimed. In the 1980s and early 1990s, India's Punjab state, which is around 58% Sikh and 39% Hindu, was shaken by a violent Khalistan separatist movement. The Punjabi diaspora overseas currently constitutes the movement's most vociferous supporters.
According to the 2021 census, 3.7% of Canada's overall population is of Indian ancestry. This translates to almost 1.4 million individuals. With nearly 770,000 Canadians (2%) identifying as Sikh, April 2019 has been declared Sikh Heritage Month by the federal government. Punjab state in India's north is predominantly Sikh, but Sikhs make up just approximately 1.7% of the country as a whole. During the G20 summit in New Delhi, Justin Trudeau clashed with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The quota of 35 weekly flights between Canada and India was lifted after an agreement was reached between the two nations in November 2022. More over 800,000 international students were enrolled in Canadian institutions by the end of 2022, with Indian students making up 40% of that total. The diplomatic spat has had a trickle-down effect on many Indian students studying in Canada. Their academic journey, visa status, and security are all in limbo. The timing of the conflict overlaps with efforts to ready for the impending intake meetings. Prospective Indian students and schools face additional challenges as a result of this predicament.
Outside of Punjab, the largest concentration of Sikhs can be found in Canada. Plans for a trade deal with India, Canada's tenth largest trading partner, have been in the works for more than a decade. When compared to the overall C$1.52 trillion in Canadian trade in 2022, bilateral trade between the two was only C$13.7bn. "Khalistan" literally translates to "the land of the pure," but in this case "khalsa" refers to the larger Sikh religious community and "Khalistan" suggests that Sikhs deserve their own country. Pre-partition India, when the idea of a separate land for Muslims in India was being contemplated, is where the thought of a separate land for Sikhs first emerged. Some Sikhs at the time reasoned that if Muslims could have Pakistan, the state that arose from partition in 1947, then they could also have a"Sikhistan," or"Khalistan." The Indian government, however, shot down that proposal and instead included the Sikhs into the state of Punjab. The Sikh population was a minority at the time the Punjab's borders were formed. Trudeau's appointment of four Sikh ministers to his then 30-member cabinet in 2015 was the initial spark for tensions between Indian and Canadian officials. Concerns have been made in the past by Indian diplomats about Sikh Canadians who back the separatist Khalistan movement for a Sikh homeland in India.
When Canada gave Sikh separatists a platform in June of 2023, India's Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said it "was not good for the relationship" between the two countries. Nijjar was killed in a Vancouver Sikh temple ten days following Jaishankar's warnings. Canada suspended talks on trade with India on September 1st, 2023. A Canadian trade mission scheduled to arrive in India in early October was postponed last week, days before Trudeau's accusation. It seems that trade has become a victim of the rising tensions. At this year's G20 conference, tensions appeared to be high between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Modi encouraged Trudeau to crack down on Sikh separatists in Canada, the Canadian prime minister was unhappy with the joint declaration's wording, which he felt was too weak on climate change and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Indian government's foreign ministry has verified that visa services for Canadian citizens have been suspended. The Indian high commission and consulates in Canada are "temporarily unable" to issue visas, according to government spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. Mr. Bagchi stated, "The security situation has resulted in disruptions and we have suspended visa applications because of the inaction of the Canadian government." It follows an announcement on a government website that visa services for Canadian nationals have been temporarily halted by the Indian mission.
The two countries have been linked historically and economically for quite some time. The results will be disastrous for both nations. The cancellation of VISAs by either country could cause problems for its people. I am optimistic that this issue will be settled quickly and that the relationship between the two countries will improve.