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India, which claims to be the biggest democracy in the world, is involved in human rights violations on its land whether it’s about the hostile treatment of minorities or the assassination of Human rights activists namely Kashmiris and activists of the Khalistan movement. He always suppressed their voices of them by calling them terrorists at a global level but the time is not always the same. In the last few days, the Prime minister of Canada openly in the House of Commons of Parliament accused Indian intelligence of being involved in the assassination of Khalistan movement activist Hardeep Singh by saying “Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of potential links between agents of the government of India and killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh. Hardeep was shot dead by two unidentified men within the premises of a gurdwara in Surrey, Canada in June 2023. He was actively involved in activities of the Khalistan separatist movement in Canada and was declared a terrorist in 2020 by the Indian government. On the other hand, India called these allegations absurd and illogical. Canada also ousted Indian top diplomat Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence agency, in Canada. As a result, India also ousted Canadian diplomats from the country.
Canada has a big Diaspora of Sikhs, the second largest minority group comprised of supporters of the Khalistan movement who stipulate freedom of Punjab from India. At the G20 summit, Modi took Trudeau aside at the summit and chided him about the Sikh separatist protests, while Trudeau said freedom of speech in Canada guaranteed peaceful demonstrations. This made the relations between the two countries strained and Canada also postponed the trade agreement which was going to be held in the last of September which would end tariffs on many sectors of interests. Both countries were already having a trade of 10 billion dollars.
Canada also appealed to five eye countries namely the UK, USA, Australia, and New Zealand, to openly condemn the Indian action but they forbade and gave ambiguous statements. The USA white house national security spoke person Adrienne Watson expressed his concerns over allegations against India and said to work with Canada for an investigation. On the other hand, UK Foreign Minister James cleverly tweeted, “All countries should respect sovereignty and the rule of law. We are in regular contact with our Canadian partners about serious allegations raised in the Canadian Parliament. Important that Canada’s investigation runs its course and the perpetrators brought to justice.” In Australia, the spokesperson for the foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia was “deeply concerned” by the allegation and that it expressed “concerns” to India at “senior levels” .He also told the country’s SBS News, that it believes that all countries “should respect the sovereignty and the rule of law”.
During the Cold War, as the Western powers and the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union engaged in intense geopolitical competition, India which is becoming the world’s largest economy influencing all domains in technology, economy chose a path of neutrality. The strategic significance of India has experienced a significant boost in recent years, particularly in the eyes of Western nations. The Western nations deem India as an important ally in countering the influence of China in the region. This has led to support and cooperation from Western countries, even at times when concerns about human rights violations in India have arisen. It is apparent from the formation of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or QUAD, which includes the United States, Japan, Australia, and India. This group was established to address common security challenges, with a primary focus on countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region. India’s misconduct in executing foreign citizens on foreign land has put a strain on its soft image in the world. Though India is now the western leading ally in Asia countering many countries namely Pakistan and China, such conduct is an attack on the sovereignty of any country.
Western countries are known for upholding values like democracy, freedom of speech, and accountability towards citizens. These principles guide their foreign policy decisions and actions on the global stage. In this scenario, they will not even allow their ally country to kill their citizens on their land. Secondly, The USA and Canada, both share borders and have considerable trade relationships alone, and also work together in several key security partnerships, including the Five Eyes, NATO and NORAD. Canada also receives large amounts of foreign intelligence from its many partnerships, especially with the Five Eyes countries of Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It doesn’t make sense that all these Western countries will tolerate such misconduct and will support India against Canada but they will not even let confrontations between both countries. It might be possible USA will play a role in mediation because India is a timely need of the USA so he will not allow Canada to cancel visas of Indians living there and completely end relations with India.
India always raises concerns about human rights violations and censorship in his neighboring country without any substantial evidence but suppressing independent movements in his own country. The world should not turn a blind eye to such acts and take action against India which in the name of democracy, is undermining democratic values in the world.
The writer is pursuing her BS IR from International Islamic University, Islamabad.
