Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reignited a diplomatic dispute with India on Oct. 13 when he repeated earlier accusations suggesting the Indian government, with the acquiescence of Narendra Modi’s inner circle if not the prime minister himself, orchestrated the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistan activist and Sikh extremist. Canada and India proceeded to expel each other’s ambassadors and senior diplomats. The dispute shows no sign of abating.
Khalistan extremism may not be on Americans’ radar screens now, but that must change. Prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalistan activists, those who demand a Sikh state in India’s Punjab, were responsible for the worst airline terrorist incident when a bomb disintegrated Air India Flight 182 over the North Atlantic Ocean, killing 329 people onboard. In 1984, Sikh extremists killed Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In recent years, Khalistan extremists have twice attacked India’s San Francisco Consulate. Militant Sikh attacks on Hindu temples in the United States are increasingly commonplace.
On June 18, 2023, gunmen, who Trudeau alleges operated on the orders of the Indian government, assassinated Nijjar on the streets of Surrey, British Columbia, a Vancouver suburb. Even if that were true, it would be little different than the U.S. killing al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Indeed, the two men were equivalent in ambition but differed only in body count.
The evidence that Trudeau cites, however, is unpersuasive. He spins a conspiracy theory reminiscent of the John F. Kennedy assassination theories, alleging that the government and mafia act in conjunction. He cites U.S. intelligence to back his claims, but that appears less truthful than an attempt to use the shield of CIA secrecy to avoid accountability for his own exaggerations. There is no indication U.S. intelligence provided Trudeau with a smoking gun. Rather, after Nijjar’s gangland slaying, the U.S. sought to assist its Canadian colleagues by providing access to ordinary chatter.
Trudeau’s motivations may be more mundane. Just as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, throws American Jews and Israel under the bus to court Muslims in Michigan and Minnesota, so too does Trudeau embrace the Khalistan cause to try to save his political life as he falls farther behind Pierre Poilievre in national polls. Like Harris, he not only abandons moral clarity, but he also miscalculates the extremists’ strength. In the United Kingdom, the government-mandated Bloom Report warned Khalistan extremists sought to hijack Sikh institutions and did not hesitate to use violence to intimidate the silent majority. To pander to Khalistan activists is to empower them, just as pandering to Islamist extremists betrays moderate Muslims.
Juxtaposing the Trudeau temper tantrum toward India with Canada’s muted response toward Pakistan in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai bombings simply reinforces the point. Nijjar openly advocated violence against his opponents and endorsed terrorism to achieve his aims. His death, even if caused by India, was no loss. During the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan-sponsored terrorists killed Canadians and fled to Pakistan, where the Pakistani government protects them. Unlike her colleague in Delhi, Canada’s high commissioner to Pakistan remains at her post.
With the Ukraine and Israel crises going full force, the Biden team may not want to deal with a spat between allies, but it cannot afford inaction or a fumble. Canada may be America’s neighbor and second-largest trading partner, but to side with Ottawa over New Delhi would be wrong. Trudeau’s progressivism may mirror the Biden administration’s, but his erraticism should concern Washington. He puts ego above national interest.
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Nor are India’s denials pro forma. The Indian government has cooperated fully in a similar investigation into an assassination attempt against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on U.S. soil and has arrested a suspect. Indeed, an Indian team arrived in Washington on Oct. 15 to discuss the case.
The U.S. cannot sacrifice its India ties to help extricate Trudeau from a hole of his own digging. Biden must cut Trudeau loose and embrace Modi. Not only truth and justice but also 21st-century security and a grave and growing terrorism threat demand it.
Michael Rubin is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is director of analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
