Written by by Karthik Nachiappan at indianexpress.com
Relations between Canada and India are at their lowest ebb. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement to Canadian lawmakers alleging that Indian agents killed Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar this June has caused relations to plunge to a fresh low. Diplomats have been expelled. There is little hope of reconciliation which will now require both sides to have a serious, open and layered political dialogue over the role of Canada’s Indian diaspora, their politicisation, and its effects on Canada-India relations. The current impasse has been precipitated by Nijjar’s murder. Yet, the real culprit is a toxic form of diaspora politics that involves Canadian political parties engaging with and appeasing groups and their jaundiced views of their countries of origin because of their ostensible political value.