Report by Alekhya Chavan
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), 2,26,450 Indian students reached Canada in 2022 to study. They make up the largest student group in Canada – as much as 40% of all international students in Canada are from India.
India and Canada also have good foreign trade. India’s exports to Canada and Canadian exports to India are both at about $4 billion each. In 2022, India was Canada’s 13th largest goods trading partner in the world.
Their diplomatic relations also go back a long way – Canada and India first set up diplomatic relations in 1947 – right after India’s independence.
In recent years, these relations have been strained. This week, a sudden escalation led to some very drastic actions.
What Happened?
September 18
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, blamed the Indian government for something involving a Canadian person named Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Mr. Trudeau thought that Indian agencies had acted on Canadian soil to harm a Canadian citizen. This means that Canada’s sovereignty was compromised.
India called the allegations (accusation) absurd and baseless.
This has caused disturbance between Canada and India.
The Consequences
September 18
– Canada asked a high-ranking Indian diplomat (a person who represents their country in other countries) to leave.
September 19
– India responded by asking the Canadian High Commissioner (Cameron Mackay) to leave India within five days.
– Canada’s top intelligence officer in India was also sent home.
– The Canadian Embassy was shut down by mid-day. All Indian staff were asked to leave the Embassy.
September 20 – 21
– The United States and Australia, who work closely with Canada on important things, got worried about this situation.
– India’s Foreign Ministry (Subrahmanyam Jaishankar) said that some Canadian diplomats were involved in things against India.
– The Canadian government talked about international rules and Canadian sovereignty (a country’s ability to make its own decisions and rules without other countries telling it what to do) being violated, which means they feel their country’s rights were disrespected.
Both countries issued advisories (advice) to their citizens to avoid the other country and to exercise caution.
– On September 21, India suspended visa services for Canadians. This means that the Indian embassy in Canada will not issue any new visas to Canadians.
Why Is This a Big Deal? What could have caused this?
Normally, Canada and India are friendly countries. But now, they’re not getting along. There are many people of Indian origin living in Canada, and they might be worried about what’s happening.
Further, Mr. Truedeau said that there were “credible allegations”, not “credible proof”.
However, there is an internal investigation in Canada on whether Trudeau’s election in 2019 and 2021 had interference from other countries – most notably China. If it is found out that the election was, in fact, “influenced” by these countries, Mr. Trudeau’s political career will suffer greatly. Some people think that Mr. Trudeau’s sudden allegations against India might be a way to take public attention away from the outcome of that investigation, which is about to end.
One other potential reason could be that Mr. Trudeau was not treated as warmly by the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Modi, during his recent G 20 visit to India. He was also stranded in India after his jet suffered some malfunction. India offered to send him home in the Air Force One jet used by Prime Minister Modi, but the offer was declined. The Canadian premier finally left in a new jet that flew from Canada to take him back.
Canada is also dealing with record inflation. Food banks are not able to keep pace with the rising demand.
What happens next?
Canada and India are important partners in trade and politics. Millions of Indian origin Canadians are a part of the economy. Likewise, over 30 Candian companies have a presence in India. Both countries depend on each other.
So far, the relationship has been peaceful and productive. Everyone is surprised at the sudden conflict. This is a wait and watch situation, but hopefully, it will be resolved soon.