Introduction

This chapter explores the strained relations between India and Canada, focusing on the controversy around Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's comments about a Sikh separatist. It provides background information on the separatist movement, the violence associated with it, and India's frustration with Canada's tolerance towards militant separatists.

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US-Canada relations have plunged, but Canada should learn to accommodate India’s security concerns.

Synopsis: Every fourth Friday of the month, The Straits Times' US Bureau Chief Nirmal Ghosh shines a light on Asian perspectives of global and Asian issues with expert guests.

Relations between India and Canada have plunged since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” that Indian agents killed Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, in June.

Nirmal hosts two guests to get a better insight on the Canada-India relations:

1. Christine Fair is a renowned expert on South Asia, author of numerous books on aspects of South Asia, and professor in the Security Studies Program at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

2. Terry Milewski is a former journalist who wrote the 2021 book “Blood for Blood – fifty years of the Global Khalistan Project.”

Highlights (click/tap above):

3:45 The late Sikh militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is a Che Guevara-style icon for Sikh youth

6:15 Canada has normalised the display of terrorist iconography

7:30 Worship of a martyr cult

14:13 Khalistanis have appropriated black musical culture reflecting structural racism

19:50 Khalistanis are rewriting history

Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh (nirmal@sph.com.sg) and Fa’izah Sani

Edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Follow Asian Insider with Nirmal Ghosh every fourth Friday of the month here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8