The ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada has demonstrated that the collective west has no option but to “respect India’s strategic autonomy” if they seek closer strategic ties with New Delhi, an Indian academic has told Sputnik India.
Dr. Sandeep Tripathi, the Founder President of the Forum for Global Studies (FGS), noted that Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who was on a visit to the US last week, has made it amply clear that no country could “impose its agenda” on India.
The academic recalled that the Biden administration’s response to the India-Canada row over the killing of a pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar has been “inconsistent”.
Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh temple leader and a pro-Khalistan activist, was a designated terrorist under India’s anti-terror legislation Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The White House as well as the State Department have “urged” India to cooperate in the Nijjar case.
According to reports, the intelligence on India’s unproven involvement in the Nijjar killing was provided to Canada by its Five Eyes (FVEY) ally, possibly the US.
The US considers India as a critical partner in its Indo-Pacific strategy aimed at containing China’s growing influence, according to Biden’s National Security Strategy.
“US State Secretary Antony Blinken
made no mention of the issue in the official readout released after his meeting with Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar in Washington last week. I see this as a toning down of the US’ response to the Nijjar case,” Tripathi reckoned.
Hours before the Blinken-Jaishankar meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed confidence that the Nijjar case would figure in conversation between the two top diplomats.
On Tuesday, media reported that
India has ordered 41 Canadian diplomats to leave the country by 10 October lest their diplomatic immunity be revoked.
The decision comes less than two weeks after India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told a press briefing that New Delhi had “informed” Ottawa about the presence of a large number of Canadian diplomats in India.
“Their numbers here are very much higher than ours in Canada,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Tripathi said that it was necessary for New Delhi to “show some muscle” in view of gross violation of Indian diplomats’ rights in Canada.
Jaishankar has slammed Ottawa for not acting on a “large number of extradition requests” for Nijjar and other pro-Khalistan separatists who have found refuge in Canada.
The imminent expulsion of Canadian diplomats by India marks the latest escalation in the ongoing row between India and Canada.
Both Canada and India expelled each other’s diplomat immediately after Trudeau’s explosive yet unsubstantiated allegations, with trade pact negotiations between the two countries also put on hold.
New Delhi has mounted a strong diplomatic response to Canada’s allegations,
calling it as a “safe haven” for terrorists.