This week, India-Canada relations hit a new low, as experts have noted. The tension escalated when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused 'agents of the Indian government' of being involved in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, a designated terrorist, was fatally shot outside a Gurdwara in June of this year.

The souring of relations can be traced back to Trudeau's visit to New Delhi during India’s G20 presidency when, according to Trudeau, he raised Nijjar's killing with PM Modi and he said that  any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he sought India's support in the investigation. Trudeau told this later country’s House of Commons. 

Subsequently, both India and Canada engaged in a diplomatic tit-for-tat, expelling each other's diplomats.

In this episode, our host Dev Goswami and "Def Savvy" Abhishek Bhalla discuss the potential impact of this tension on India's relationship with Canada. They explore whether Trudeau's reaction was fair, or was it just one-upmanship.

They also delve into the motives behind Trudeau's comments in the Canadian parliament. Additionally, they examine what recent figures like Deep Sidhu reveal about the state of the Khalistani movement. Despite the movement appearing dormant in India, they ponder why this incident is still causing diplomatic turmoil.

The question raised at the end prompts further discussion: How far do we want to extend the ramifications of this situation?

This, and much more on this episode of In Our Defence.

Tune in!

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound Mix by Sachin Dwivedi