Trudeau Fumbles Handling of the Nijjar Killing Incident
It is inconceivable that India would be so foolish as to believe it could escape detection by an advanced country when pursuing extremists.
Commentary
Ottawa and New Delhi are currently embroiled in a diplomatic row over allegations of an Indian hit team operating in Canada.
On May 3, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)—you know, the storied men in scarlet who always get their man—announced the arrest of three Indian nationals for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia in June.
The three young men have been in Canada for three to five years.
The clash of cultures between the two countries is exacerbated by the clashing personalities of their leaders.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has adopted virtue signalling and progressivism as part of his policy suite.
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Canada should “talk less and listen more.”
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a muscular Hindu nationalist, widely regarded in Canada as anti-Muslim and increasingly authoritarian.
What’s Happened So Far?
The bombshell allegations were first raised by Mr. Trudeau on Sept. 18.
Indians, including the Sikh-majority government of the state of Punjab, believe that intra-Sikh quarrels in British Columbia’s volatile gurdwara politics was the more likely source of Mr. Nijjar’s killing.
Troublingly, Mr. Trudeau is yet to provide any evidence of the serious charges. Instead, in effect he told Modi: We think you are guilty. Help us prove it. The court case against the three arrestees will be eagerly watched by Trudeau-doubting Canadians as well as India.
Mr. Nijjar was a wanted man in India with a $16,000 bounty on his head. India has long accused Canada of being too tolerant of anti-Indian activities and statements by the Sikh diaspora because of their electoral importance in domestic politics.
Mr. Trudeau’s characteristically ham-handed approach to bilateral relations with an important country contrasts sharply with the maturity shown by the Biden administration south of the border. And that is saying something.
Washington warned New Delhi of concerns
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