Thread by @MattooShashank

Justin Trudeau just ruined Canada's ties with India

The relationship won’t recover for years

Here’s how Trudeau got India wrong🧵

Let's start in 2015

That's when Trudeau became Canada's Prime Minister

He came to office after a successful visit by PM Modi in 2015

Over the previous decade, Canada's PM Stephen Harper pushed for a stronger relationship with India

In 2010, Harper helped start talks on a Free Trade Agreement

He also signed a nuclear agreement with India in 2015 where Canada agreed to sell uranium

Harper also made 2011 the "Year of India" in Canada

So its safe to say that Trudeau inherited a strong bilateral relationship

During his election campaign, Trudeau's Liberal Party called for closer trade ties with India

But not much else was known on his India policy

However, a perception took hold that Trudeau failed to capitalise on the momentum that Harper had built up

In 2016, Canadian High Commissioner Nirad Patel had to face questions about whether the relationship had been put into "auto pilot"

This was because experts felt Trudeau had neglected India during his first year as PM

Talks on an FTA also slowed, according to Hindustan Times

Trudeau's 2018 visit to India only came after his efforts to strike a trade deal with China during a visit in 2017 ran into the ground

As mentioned before, part of the speculation among experts was that Trudeau had focused on China while India was relatively low priority

In 2018, Trudeau travelled to 🇮🇳 in a bid to push the relationship forward

It was, to put it mildly, a controversial visit

Jaspal Atwal, a man convicted of trying to kill an Indian Cabinet minister in 1986, received an invite for a dinner from the Canadian High Commission

Atwal was a part of the pro-Khalistan movement

The invite was quickly cancelled but it caused significant public outrage in India

While India and Canada announced new investments and a joint framework for cooperation on counter-terror, this incident overshadowed the visit

Canada mentioned pro-Khalistan terror groups like Babbar Khalsa international for the first time in that joint framework on terror

That led to hope that Canada was looking to change its "soft on Khalistan terror" image

That wasn't to be

India Today reports that in 2018, Canada released a report identifying Khalistani extremism as a threat to public safety

BUT. pressure came in from these groups, who are politically active and are major supporters of the Liberal Party

Trudeau's govt caved under pressure

In the next version of the report, all mention Khalistan/Sikh extremism was removed

Indian officials were disappointed by this backtracking

Things got worse in 2020 when Trudeau made comments on the ongoing farmer law protests

India shot back against this interference

In 2021, Trudeau's party lost its majority in parliament

It formed a coalition with Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the New Democratic Party

Singh has spoken at a pro-Khalistan rally and termed the 1984 riots a "genocide"

He is a prominent India-sceptic

While the relationship on defence and trade continued to grow, political tensions simmered underneath

In 2023, the manhunt for extremist Amritpal Singh led to internet shutdowns by authorities

Jagmeet Singh condemned the "draconian" measures adding to tensions

The crackdown led to protests against India's High Commission in Canada and the alleged use of smoke grenades

Pro-Khalistan groups also aired propaganda glorifying the attack

They also aired specific propaganda attacking specific Indian diplomats for the death of Hardeep Nijjar

These attacks on its diplomats angered Delhi

Angered by the lack of action by Canadian authorities, India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar attacked Canada for practicing "vote bank politics"

But Canada's govt thought there was something to the allegations made on Nijjar's death

As India's Foreign Ministry stated, Canada shared no detailed information about its suspicions

Giving no reasons, it asked the Indian govt to pause talks on their proposed FTA

Canada's Trade Minister cancelled a visit to India

Once again, no reasons were really given

Right before the G20, Canada attempted to ruin the event by approaching powers like America and the UK to confront India over Nijjar's death

It did not receive their support

That led to Monday's events, where Trudeau essentially accused India of having a role in Nijjar's death

The manner in which the accusations were made will make India-Canada ties radioactive for years

Trust is broken and plans for cooperation in trade and defence effectively dead

That is a marked contrast to the bilateral relationship Trudeau inherited

All it took was 8 years

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