How Justin Trudeau’s Tenure Shaped 'Fractured' India-Canada Ties

Canada's 23rd Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation on Monday, ending a tenure of nearly nine years in the office. The 53-year-old liberal party leader told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa that the House of Commons will remain suspended until March 24 while his party picks a new leader.

“This country deserves a real choice in the next election. If I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” said Trudeau.

Trudeau’s resignation was followed by his deputy PM and finance minister Chrystia Freeland's sudden announcement of stepping down in December last year. However, his resignation did not come as a shock to many due to growing dissatisfaction within his party over policies.

India-Canada Relationship Turmoil

During Trudeau's tenure, Canada's relationship with India was at one of its lowest following the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistani, in June 2023 on Canadian soil, which Canada blamed on New Delhi agents.

These allegations soured the relationship between them to a level that in September 2024 both countries expelled each other’s diplomats. India, while responding by expelling the Canadian diplomat, also cited growing concerns over Canadian diplomats interfering in India’s internal matters and supporting anti-India activities. India for a brief period suspended visa operations as well due to security threats.

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In October same year, when India demanded parity in diplomatic representation, Canada called back its 40 diplomats from India. It further expelled six more Canadian diplomats and withdrew its staff from Canada as well. In response, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats accusing them as “persons of interest” in Nijjar's killing. It also included High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma.

The saga of accusation and counter-accusation continued between India and Canada. In the same month, Canada’s foreign ministry also accused Home Minister Amit Shah of orchestrating a campaign of intimidation in Canada.

While testifying before Canada’s foreign interference inquiry, Trudeau said that India has been insisting on evidence over allegations leveled by Canada regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Nijjar, but his government had provided just intelligence, “not hard evidentiary proof.”

“What we have heard only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along – Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats,” India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded in a statement.

The MEA further held Trudeau’s “cavalier behaviour” responsible for damaging India-Canada relations.

India's long-stand complaint against Canada has been that the country works as a haven for Khalistani separatists or extremists. Khalistan is the name of the proposed state by some Sikh separatists who wish to incorporate Punjab and other Punjabi-speaking northern India areas to create a different Sikh nation. The ethno-religious separatist movement, which gathered momentum in India during the 1970s and early 1980s, eventually lost steam. However, in recent years, it has regained traction among the Sikh diaspora.

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Bilateral trade between India and Canada is around $8 billion, according to the latest data from India’s trade ministry. Above any trade relations, Canada is home to one of the largest Indian diaspora abroad. According to the MEA data, around 1.8 million diasporas and another 1 million Non-Resident Indians constitute Canada's 3 per cent of population.

Canada also accounted for 5.3 per cent of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2021. This made Canada the fourth largest source of tourists in India. Education is one of the major key areas of interest between the countries, India being the largest source country of foreign students with an estimated 427,000 Indian students studying in Canada.

The diplomatic spat between both countries found in new turmoil after a Canadian news report in December last year claimed that Indian consulate officials denied visas to people involved with the Khalistani movement. The Global News report based on interactions with Sikh Canadians stated that they were made to sign a letter denouncing their support for separatism.

A New Era of India-Canada Relations?

Even as Trudeau’s leadership marked a new low of bilateral ties between India and Canada, Trudeau's departure may offer avenues to resent this fraught relationship. However, it will require both sides to move beyond of their mutual distrust and challenges. The future of this diplomatic relation hinges on whether the next Canadian leader in line will inherit Trudeau's policies or deal with it with more balanced approach to work towards building trust while not letting fringe elements to influence the ties.