Late Tuesday, the U.S. vehemently denied the idea that it has been reluctant to speak publicly on Canada’s behalf amid allegations by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Indian government participated in the extrajudicial killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.
This was after a report in the Washington Post said Ottawa had tried and failed for weeks to get its allies to publicly condemn the murder.
A senior U.S. administration official reached out to CBC News to dispute that characterization.
“Reports that Canada asked the U.S. to publicly condemn the murder and that we refused are false and we would strongly push back on the rumours that we were reluctant to speak publicly about this,” the official said.
“In fact, we very clearly and very publicly have done the opposite by expressing deep concern shortly after PM Trudeau made the announcement.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-india-nijjar-sikh-trudeau-modi-1.6971670
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Weeks before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aired an explosive accusation that Indian officials may have been behind the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia, Ottawa asked its closest allies, including Washington, to publicly condemn the murder.
Ultimately, the alleged assassination on June 18 of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was privately raised by several senior officials of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing countries in the weeks before September’s Group of 20 summit in New Delhi.
Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst at the Wilson Center, said the dispute poses a dilemma for Western governments, including the Biden administration, which has articulated a “values-based foreign policy that’s meant to emphasize rights and democracy.”
The Indian prime minister’s office announced on Sept. 10 that the two leaders had discussed the Khalistan issue on the sidelines of the summit and that Modi had conveyed “India’s strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada.” Trudeau stayed a day longer than planned in New Delhi, which the Canadian High Commission, or embassy, attributed to a technical problem with his plane.
Washington described itself as “deeply concerned” about the allegations and said it was critical that “Canada’s investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice,” according to a statement by White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.
And days before Nijjar’s shooting, Avtar Singh Khanda, a British-based pro-Khalistan leader who raised the movement’s flag above the Indian High Commission in London, died in a hospital in Birmingham.
The original article contains 1,362 words, the summary contains 250 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Watch as Canada’s so-called allies do jack shit because relations with India, a rising power they can use to futilely attempt to encircle China, are clearly more important than relations with a close ally that’s fought for them, lost domestic industries for them, soured international relations for them, and has been their largest trading partner for decades.
Seriously, what the fuck? The US has had an incredibly weak position on this ordeal that’s entirely unexpected from such a close ally and feels far more like something coming out of Germany or France - aligned by being part of the West but not in terms of actual interests. This is what the US has said publicly:
“They are certainly serious allegations, and we believe in order to determine how credible they are, there needs to be a thorough investigation. Prime Minister Trudeau has called for that, and so we’ll see how Canada moves forward on this. It’s certainly well within their capacity to do this, and we urge India as well to participate and cooperate in that investigation. It is important to find out exactly what happened.”
I’m sorry, but what the fuck? We’re talking about a country violating our territorial integrity to commit an assassination in a dense and developed suburb of one of our largest urban centers. This investigation has been going on for months.
Our allies are leaving us out to dry solely because, despite our history of being their steadfast ally, we don’t provide them as much utility as this shiny new country that wasn’t relevant until it suddenly was because the Soviet Union collapsed, they pulled out of the Middle East, and they declared China to be the new big bad.
As a Canadian, this is just so perfect full-circle irony and hypocrisy, its surreal.
Yay India, keep helping us take out the trash
Can you elaborate for someone that doesn’t see the dots you’re connecting?
I really don’t know how to articulate my feelings on this. I have an issue when people migratr to a new country and start raising hackles and creating the potential and reality of violence that touches the Canadians around them over fantasy lands that don’t even exist and cynically undermine our very real relationships with existing legitimate regimes with whom we need to be able to constructively work and dialogue.
With all due respect, Khalistan does not exist and is not recognized by any modern nation. It is a fantasy and should be treated as such. Furthermore, zero Canadian blood should be spilled over it on the behalf of those who advocate so fiercely for it in a nation where they cannot hope to effect the change necessary for its reification that it creates the potential or likelihood for real violence that is as senseless as it is misplaced.
Anybody who has social media or online presence that even uses the word Khalistan should be immediately inadmissable. We don’t care and no Canadian life should be sacrificed for the sake of its advocacy. It should serve as a disqualifying factor because they do not have any inherent jurisdiction nor expectation for its recognition nor do they have the necessary resolve to make rhat difficult decision that may lead to their own blood being spilled rather than that of their compatriots not so priveleged as to be able to fly away to Canada whilst spouting their violent rhetoric or talk of overthrowing existing recognized geopolitical players and hard truths.
I have an issue when people migrate to a new country and start raising hackles and creating the potential and reality of violence
It’s easy to understand the feeling that when you move to the new world you should leave old world politics behind.
Are you consistent with this view though? It’s a difficult thing to do. During the Great Hunger in Ireland would it have been wrong for the Irish diaspora to advocate economic reforms in Ireland?
Was Canada right to refuse entry to Jews fleeing Europe in 1939?
Khalistan does not exist…
I’m not in a position to comment on the probability of the khalistan movement succeeding in the creation of an independent state. I don’t like the idea of ethno-states and non-secular government but I’m sympathetic to people advocating for the right to self determination.
zero Canadian blood should be spilled over it
So why are you applauding India killing Canadians?
Anybody who has social media or online presence that even uses the word Khalistan should be immediately inadmissable
People like us?
…nor do they have the necessary resolve to make that difficult decision that may lead to their own blood being spilled rather than that of their compatriots
You realize that we’re talking about someone that WAS (allegedly) killed for their resolve right? Is that the irony you were referencing in your original comment?
…spouting their violent rhetoric or talk of overthrowing…
Canada does have anti terrorism laws so if he was violating those he should have been prosecuted, but I’m not on board with Canadians being killed for exercising their rights to free speech. India accused him of some pretty serious stuff, why couldn’t they get Canada to prosecute him?
As a Canadian, this is just so perfect full-circle irony and hypocrisy, its surreal.
Yay India, keep helping us take out the trash
I appreciate your breaking everything down, I suppose I’m having a delayed reaction to the story of the father in downtown Vancouver that was stabbed to death by one such “Khalistani” and I think thats one to many deaths on their account.
Some googling suggests to me that you’re talking about the murder of Paul Schmidt by Inderdeep Gosal.
I couldn’t find anything firmly linking him to Khalistani independence movements. But I did see this article suggesting there is a smear campaign against Sikhs/Khalistanis.
Also my 5 minutes of research suggested that he came here as a young child. So I don’t think he came here for the purpose of agitating for an independent Khalistan from the safety of Canada.