Is ‘pragmatic diplomacy’ behind how US, Canada handled ties with India over Sikh separatist killing and foiled assassination?

India-Canada ties have suffered since the killing of a Sikh leader in Canada, but a similar case in the US has not strained Delhi-Washington relations

While human rights mattered in both cases, they played second fiddle to strategic interests and ‘pragmatic diplomacy’ of each nation

Reading Time:4 minutes

Protesters outside the Indian consulate in Toronto, Ontario. Ties between India and Canada have been strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September alleged that “agents of the Indian government” were involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:15pm, 15 Feb 2024

The political power of community groups and “trust” between governments are behind a stark contrast between how Canada and the US have dealt with New Delhi over alleged cases of assassinations of Sikh separatists in both countries, thought to have been carried out by Indian agents, analysts said.

While India-Canada ties have suffered in recent months over the killing of a Sikh leader in Canada, a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States has not strained relations between Delhi and Washington.

Analysts said this was due to the difference in political power of community groups in the respective countries, adding that while human rights mattered, they played second fiddle to strategic interests and “pragmatic diplomacy”.

Noting that the Sikh community in Canada was “far more powerful” than that in the US, Rafiq Dossani, director of the US-based RAND Centre for Asia-Pacific Policy, said the discrepancy in responses did not reflect any difference in weight given to human rights between Canada and the US.

“It does, though, reflect a difference in trust,” Dossani said, adding that while India “has earned the US government’s trust, it has not earned that of the Canadian government”.

Ties between India and Canada have been strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September alleged that “agents of the Indian government” were involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June last year.

Rejecting the claims as “absurd and motivated”, New Delhi expelled Canadian diplomats, temporarily suspended visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country.