Nuclear deal, Khalistan, Trudeau- 100 years of history of India-Canada relations

 

100 years of history of India-Canada relations

11600 km Google Map shows the distance between India and Canada, almost a quarter of the distance on earth. In the age of air travel, this distance is covered in less than a day, but due to the events that have happened in the last 1 year, the gap that has been created between the two countries will now take years to bridge. You are aware of the recent developments. In the case of the murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Najjar, Canada has directly accused the Indian government of involvement. Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma was named as Person of Interest in the Nijjaj murder case. In response, India expelled six Canadian diplomats with its own hands. The recent period is the most difficult period in the history of India-Canada relations, but there have been many ups and downs in the meantime. But how was the history of India-Canada relations before this, you will know the answer to this question in this article.



Prime Minister of India and Canada

Initial period

If we talk about modern history, you can consider the beginning of India-Canada relations from the year 1897. A Sikh soldier Kesar Singh reached Vancouver during Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. This was the first batch of Sikhs to reach Canada. Gradually the number of Sikhs increased and during this time they also had to face racial discrimination. In the year 1914, a big incident happened with the Sikhs in Canada. A ship named Komagata Maru reached the coast of Canada. There were 376 Indians on the ship, most of whom were Sikhs. These people stayed on the ship for two months but they were not allowed to disembark. Even food and water reached them with difficulty. Finally these people were sent back. When this ship reached the coast of Kolkata, the British soldiers opened fire. In which 28 people died.

India became independent in 1947. From here the foundation of official relations between Canada and India was laid, with independent India. In 1949, Pandit Nehru went to Canada. Nehru addressed the Parliament of Canada and during this time a deep friendship was established between Nehru and Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. Canada helped India especially in matters of nuclear technology. In 1954, Canada gave India CIRUS i.e. Canada India Reactor Utility Services. It was a reactor which was installed in Trom Bay near Mumbai. This reactor became a fundamental part of India's nuclear program. During this period, both the countries worked together on many international issues, whether it was the Korean War or the Suez Canal crisis. India and Canada were seen standing in the same camp. Economic help, food aid, technical assistance, Canada supported India in every way. In the 1960s, Canada also helped us in building the Kunda Hydroelectric Project. This relationship was getting stronger in the 1960s but then the shadow of the Cold War started falling on these relations.


Cold War

Canada felt that India was getting closer to the Soviet Union and India was also getting closer. The year 1974 came and the relations between India and Canada suffered a major setback. India conducted its first peaceful nuclear test in May. Which was named Smiling Buddha. 


Operation Smiling Buddha, First Nuclear Test at Pokhran in 1974 


Canada could not digest this and its then Prime Minister Pero Trudeau called it a betrayal. Pero Trudeau is Justin Trudeau's father. Canada believed that India had used the Cyrus reactor to make nuclear weapons, which was a violation of the agreement. There was talk of peaceful use. Canada immediately stopped all cooperation in the nuclear field, not only with India but also with Pakistan. After this, Canada decided that it would cooperate with only those countries that would sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Along with this, these countries will also have to accept full monitoring of their nuclear energy programs by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), only then will you get Canada's help. Now India and Pakistan had refused to sign the NPT. Both countries said that this treaty violates their sovereign rights. After this incident, India-Canada relations froze like ice, there is a lot of ice in Canada anyway. Canada completely stopped nuclear cooperation with India. That caused damage to the relations between the two countries, deep damage.




In the 1980s, the situation worsened and that time the demand for Khalistan arose in Punjab. Some fundamentalists started taking refuge in Canada and started carrying out anti-India activities from there. The Canadian government was not controlling them. Canada's argument was that its liberal laws allow such activities. They called it dissent but this argument could never impress or reassure India. Because what they were calling dissent was also touching the limits of separatism, militancy and terrorism here. Terror incidents also took place at many places. A big tragedy occurred on 23 June 1985. Air India's flight Kanishak was blown up by a bomb. The 747 plane was a big jet, this plane was going from Montreal to London. This plane was to come to New Delhi. There were 329 people on board the plane, of which 268 were Canadian citizens, most of whom were of Indian origin, 27 were British citizens and 24 were Indian citizens. All of them died. This bomb was in a suitcase which came from Vancouver to Toronto in a different flight. In Toronto, it was transferred to Air India flight 181. When the plane was at an altitude of 31000 feet, at almost cruising altitude, this bomb exploded. About an hour before that day, a bomb blast also took place at Tokyo's Narita airport. This bomb also came from Vancouver. Two Japanese baggage handlers were killed in this explosion. Investigation revealed that both these bomb blasts were connected. Investigation agencies of Canada and India found that these attacks were planned by Sikh separatists living in Canada. They carried out a terrorist attack. Their aim was to take revenge for Operation Blue Star in 1984. After this incident, Canada and India started a bilateral dialogue against terrorism but Canada's investigation was slow. It took them 25 years to gather concrete evidence in this case. During this time many important evidences were either destroyed or lost. When the case finally reached the court in 2005, the main accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The cover-up in the Kanishka bombing caused serious damage to India-Canada relations. India believed that Canada did not take it seriously even though Canadian citizens had lost their lives. Some people even alleged that since most of the victims were of Indian origin, Canada was lax in the investigation.


The last three decades

Things changed a bit in the early 1990s. In 1991, India opened its economy. The doors opened for foreign investment. The attention of the whole world turned towards India and Canada was not far behind in this. In 1993, the Liberal Party came to power in Canada. Jean Cretin became the new Prime Minister and he talked about focusing on India. The Canadian Foreign Ministry was also given the task of preparing a special report on Focus India. Cretin came to India in January 1996. He was accompanied by the Premiers of eight provinces of Canada and more than 300 big businessmen. This team was called Team Canada and this visit was very successful. Many agreements were made and trade relations improved and strengthened. Cretin said that Canada is back in India and has come here to stay. In September of that year, India's Foreign Minister IK Gujral visited Canada. In January next year, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd X Wadi visited India. During this time he also opened a new office of the Canadian High Commission in Chandigarh. In 1997 itself, the Anti-Terrorism Task Force was established. In which many departments and agencies of both the countries came together. In March 1998, Canada's Governor General Romeo Leblanc made a state visit to India. It seemed that the relations between the two countries were coming back on track but then there was a setback. Why?


Operation Shakti, Second Nuclear Test at Pokhran in 1998


In May 1998, India conducted two nuclear tests in Pokhran. Canada again became angry and imposed sanctions on India. The visits of some Indian ministers to Canada were cancelled and Canada's Foreign Minister Lloyd X. Verdi even talked about punishing India. After these tests, India formally declared itself a nuclear weapon-rich country. Many countries including Canada criticized it but this time the relations could not remain bad for long. Canada quickly realized that India is a big and important country. It is a very big market, which you cannot ignore. 

In 2006, the Conservative Party came to power in Canada. Stephen Harper became the Prime Minister and in the next 9 years, India-Canada relations got a new lease of life. Many agreements were signed between the two countries. Cooperation increased in all areas of trade, economic cooperation, energy, education, defence, science and technology.

In November 2009, Harper also made an official visit to India and the relationship was also given the status of a strategic partnership. In June 2010, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Canada for the G-20 summit in Toronto. When Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2015, he also visited Canada. During this time an old dispute was also resolved. Canada agreed to give uranium to India. A trade agreement was also reached. Under which Canada agreed to give 3000 metric tonnes of uranium concentrate to India in 5 years. The first consignment arrived in India in December 2015 and trade and investment between the two countries increased. In 2015, bilateral trade between India and Canada was more than 6 billion dollars. Investment of Indian companies increased in Canada. At the same time, Canadian companies were also investing in India. Both countries also came closer in the field of education. More than 400 agreements were signed between the institutions of India and Canada. The number of Indian students reached the second highest among international students in Canada and while the relations between the two countries were getting stronger on the economic front, some challenges were also seen in the last decade.

In October 2015, the Liberal Party came to power again in Canada and Justin Trudeau became the new Prime Minister. India-Canada relations were going well then but vote bank politics started affecting international relations. Actually, the number of people of Indian origin in Canada is more than 10 lakhs. About one-fourth of them are Sikhs from Punjab. This community is now playing an important role in Canadian politics. In the 2015 elections, the Liberal Party benefited a lot from Sikh votes. There are four Sikh ministers in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. Which also includes the Defense Minister. Trudeau once jokingly said that there are more Sikhs in his cabinet than in Modi's. That is, compared to Modi's cabinet, but there is also a small part of this community which has been involved in anti-India activities. We are talking about Khalistan supporters. These people have been active since the 1980s demanding Khalistan. The Canadian government is not taking any action against them. It cites its so-called liberal laws. This issue has been a constant cause of tension in India-Canada relations. Let us take a look at the chronology of the ups and downs in India-Canada relations in recent times.


After 2015

In October 2015, Justin Trudeau became the Prime Minister of Canada. At this time, India-Canada relations were positive. In the next two years, the relations between the two countries remained warm. There were many high-level visits. The Prime Ministers of both the countries met three times on international forums. Meanwhile, India's concerns increased due to the growing closeness between the Trudeau government and the supporters of Khalistan.

April 2017 The Legislative Assembly of the Ontario province of Canada declared the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 as genocide. This was seen as a kind of comment on India's internal issues. Which was not liked in India. However, the relations still did not sour.

In February 2018, Trudeau came to India for a week. During this, a big diplomatic scandal arose when Jaspal Atwal was seen at the reception organized by the Canadian High Commission in Mumbai. This incident became big news in the Indian and Canadian media. Many of you must know Jaspal Atwal, for those who do not, we will tell you.

Jaspal Atwal was convicted in 1986 for attempting to murder then Punjab minister Malkit Singh Sidhu. The Home Ministry clarified that Atwal was removed from the blacklist in 2017 but he was still on the list of close monitoring. Due to the controversy, the invitation extended to Atwal for a dinner held in New Delhi was withdrawn. After this blunder in the India tour, the Canadian government took another decision the next year which angered India. The threat of Sikh extremism was removed from Canada's public security report and the Sikh military was out of the list. After this, in December 2020, Trudeau expressed concern over the farmers' movement in India. India once again considered it an unacceptable interference in internal affairs. Due to all these reasons, India-Canada relations became tense by 2020.

In June 2023, Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar is murdered in Canada. In September 2023, Trudeau accuses the Indian government of possible involvement in Nijjar's murder. India rejects the allegations as absurd and motivated. Both countries expel each other's diplomats. India also permanently suspends the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens. After Trudeau's allegations in 2023, it seemed that the relations between the two countries could deteriorate further and the latest developments point towards this. International issues are delicate, every step can have a big impact. According to experts, the issue of Khalistan in Canada interferes with politics. Elections are going to be held in Canada soon, so Trudeau's recent statements are also being called politically motivated. According to experts, a new government may come in Canada after the elections. It is possible that after this a new phase of India-Canada relations may begin.



Anil Paal

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