Round The World
New
Delhi, 1 March 2018
Trudeau Visit
MIXING DOMESTIC, FOREIGN POLICY!
By Dr D.K. Giri
(Prof. International Politics, JMI)
Many political observers, media persons and
diplomats in both India and Canada dubbed Justin Trudeau’s week-long visit a
disaster. Such a controversial and inconsequential visit by a head of a State
has not been witnessed in recent diplomatic history. India ‘was embarrassed’,
Justin Trudeau was given a ‘royal snub’, were remarks in the media. At any
rate, irrespective of the impact the visit may have had on India-Canada
bilateral relations, it has left a ‘bad taste in the mouth’ in India, and has
drawn heavy criticism back home for the Canadian Prime Minister.
What could have gone so wrong before and
during Trudeau’s visit, to make it so forgettable? Not to forget, some
commentators did say that, from Trudeau’s stand-point, the visit was
successful. He seems to have got what he came for. Without being judgmental,
let us assess the visit from at least three angles – the objectives, the
process, and the diplomatic protocols – rather the faux pas.
On the objectives, obviously, the Government
of India had invited Trudeau to deepen India-Canada relations, and in
particular to give a boost to Indo-Canadian trade transactions. This tied in
with NaMo’s international campaign to ‘Make in India’ with foreign investment,
to make India a ‘manufacturing hub’ of the world and so on. The India-Canada
trade was about C$ 5 billion in 2015, whereas Canadian trade with China was C$
56 billion. China, though way ahead of India in economic growth, it is still
the reference point.
Notably, India and Canada are in negotiation
for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) since 2010. Ten
rounds have been conducted till 2017, to sign off the agreement. Canada pressed
for early conclusion of negotiations on a Foreign Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreement (FIPA) to shore up investment in India. New Delhi would be
inclined to expedite it if Ottawa were more sensitive to India’s concern about
Sikh radicals in Canada meddling in Punjab.
Under a ‘landmark deal’ Canada signed up with
India to supply uranium for five years from 2015 to power India’s atomic
reactors. The $254 million deal was inked after four decades of frozen
collaboration in this sector. Trudeau met several heads of civil society and
industry in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and discussed
billions of investment. The visit did not go so badly in this area of
India-Canada bilateralism.
The objective from Canadian or Trudeau’s
perspective was quite different. He was addressing the large Sikh community in
his constituencies. Trudeau has six Sikh Ministers in his Cabinet and was
accompanied by more than dozen of Indian-Canadian MPs and Ministers to India.
Trudeau pandering to the large Sikh community in Canada through a lot of
symbolism has alienated Indian officials, politicians and even public. For
Trudeau and his Liberal Party, a good deal of visuals was collected for next
year’s federal elections. This is how domestic policy was mixed up with foreign
policy to the chagrin of both New Delhi and Trudeau’s supporters in Canada.
Tracking back a bit, Trudeau has been seen to
be heavily pro-Sikh in Canada; about 500,000-strong Sikh community there is overwhelmingly
pro-Khalistan, a separate State demand that caused so much bloodshed. Khalistan
has gone into almost oblivion in Indian psyche, even in Punjab where 60 per
cent are Sikhs out of the population of 27 million. But strangely, as a part of
‘psychology of the uprooted’, the Canadian Sikhs continue to support separatism
in Punjab.
The Sikh Ministers in Trudeau’s Cabinet, all
four of them, are sympathetic to Khalistan issue. Jaspal Atwal, formerly of
International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), a pro-Khalistani organisation, was
seen at a function with Trudeau’s wife. This organisation gained international
notoriety when its leader, Talwinder Parmar bombed an Air India flight in
Toronto in 1985, killing all 329 passengers. A year later, Atwal was one of four
men who attempted to murder Punjab politician Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver
Island in 1986. He was convicted of the charge. Trudeau had attended almost all
functions in Canada celebrating Khalistani related issues; last May, he
attended the Khalsa parade where Sikh militants were honoured.
The process noticed in Trudeau’s itinerary
involved lot of symbolisms, over indulging Punjabi Indian culture, prompting a
Canadian journalist to comment, “For Trudeau, it is all about Sikh votes.”
Trudeau family was wearing gaudy Indian dresses for each occasion to identify
with locals, visiting Sikh shrines, initially refusing to meet the Punjab Chief
Minister, a Sikh, opposed to any hint of separatism etc.
Trudeau stepped on every conceivable
political landmine. To cap it all, Atwal was invited to the dinner hosted by
the Canadian High Commissioner, in honour of his Prime Minister. When this was
brought to Trudeau’s notice by infuriated Indian officials, Trudeau was truly
embarrassed and withdrew the invitation forthwith. But the damage was done.
Towards the end of his visit, on day 6,
Trudeau met Prime Minister Modi, held ‘serious talks’, jointly affirmed that
the bilateralism will be based on “respect for the fundamental principle of
sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of two countries.” Both PMs vowed
to fight terrorism, etc. It seemed to have ended well, but the cold-shouldering
of Trudeau prior to their meeting hardly went unnoticed. For instance, Modi, as
is the custom, did not go to receive Trudeau, nor did NaMo accompany him on any
of his visits to the four States, especially to Gujarat where he had earlier
escorted Xi Ping of China, Netanyahu of Israel and Abe of Japan.
From the Canadian side, the critics of
Trudeau argue that the visit could not have gone better. He has been ignored by
Donald Trump before. Their contention is he is not terribly qualified to be the
PM of Canada, but lucky to have been catapulted to this exalted position by the
image of his father, who was a popular PM. Trudeau came to Parliament only in
2008 and became PM in 2015. He is known for gaffes of the kind committed by
leaders like George W. Bush. A few of the famous ones are -- the terrorists can
retain Canadian citizenship, or China’s basic dictatorship has turned its
economy around, or his articulation on North Korea, etc.
Discussing the merits of Canadian Prime Minister
is not our domain of interest or protocol. We should focus on India-Canada
relations. One wonders how New Delhi concurs in the itinerary of Trudeau,
leaving him alone in his sojourn, how did Atwal get the Indian visa? Will any
head roll for such a glaring oversight? Trudeau may have messed it up for his
country, but surely New Delhi could have done better; as they say it takes two
to tango. –INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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