We must thank Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for existing. The debacle caused by Trudeau’s government by downgrading its diplomatic ties with India was met with stern retaliation from the Modi government. Trudeau’s governance incompetence and lack of direction have not been lost on the international community including the media as far as his spar with India is concerned.
Trudeau’s address to the media in New York where he was participating in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was met with sharp questions from the media. The Canadian PM struggled and even failed to answer most of these questions which were all about the Canada-India tensions and barely a question or two about the issues Trudeau raised in his briefing.
The Canadian PM reiterated his baseless and motivated charges against India at the briefing saying, “We call upon the government of India to work with us, to take seriously these allegations and to allow justice to follow its course.”
It is both sinister and stupid that Trudeau is demanding that a sovereign State kneel to his government’s baseless allegations and thereby give legitimacy to the same; a trap so to speak. India’s Ministry of External Affairs in a briefing on 21 September said that no specific information has been received from Canada over its allegations against India so far.
#WATCH | "We are willing to look at any specific information that is provided to us, but so far we have received no specific information from Canada. From our side, specific evidence about criminal activities by individuals based on the Canadian soil has been shared with Canada… pic.twitter.com/1rdHyXlLS7
— ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2023
And yet, throughout his media address, Trudeau continued to repeat the same sentence in response to questions which sounded critical of Canada’s diplomatic blunder.
“As I said on Monday there are credible reasons to believe that agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil. That is something of utmost and of foundational importance in a country of the rule of law, in a world where international rules-based order matters. We have a rigorous and independent justice system and robust processes that will follow their course and we call upon the government of India to engage with us to move forward on getting to the truth of this matter,” the Canadian PM said.
When asked by Global News if Canada had asked its allies including the US, UK, Australia or New Zealand to publicly condemn New Delhi, the only words Trudeau managed to stitch together were, “As a country of the rule of law, we have an obligation to ensure that those processes unfold in a rigorous and independent manner and that is what we are ensuring. At the same time we are ensuring that Canadians stay protected and that we stand up for the international rules-based order. That is something we are doing alongside our allies.”
Clearly sensing a lack of answerability from the Canadian Prime Minister, the reporter asked again in more direct words, “But so far at this point in time you seem to be alone in echoing the allegations. Are you concerned that Canadian allies have not gone nearly as far as you in this situation?”
For the third time, Trudeau repeated his words, “We are standing up for the rules-based order, we are standing up for the rule of law. We’re highlighting how unacceptable it would be for any country to be involved in the killing of a citizen on their own home soil. And that’s something we will continue to stand for.”
By this time, Trudeau was visibly discomforted with the questions coming his way centred around this one topic alone.
When asked to characterise the quality of the evidence that Trudeau claimed the Canadian government had against India during his address in the Parliament, Trudeau was at a loss for words. He said that the process of justice should be allowed to unfold itself.
He said, “The decision to share these allegations on the floor of the House of Commons Monday morning was not done lightly…uh it was done with, Monday afternoon…was done with utmost seriousness.”
In extension to his reply, Trudeau was asked if he meant that the evidence was extensive. But the Canadian Prime Minister only repeated the same sentence for the nth time about there being “credible allegations” against India.
Speaking about his interaction with PM Modi, Trudeau said he shared his concerns in no uncertain terms.
On questions on India’s suspension of visa services for Canadians, Trudeau failed to have any answer at all and rather “called upon” India to indulge with Canada on the charges it is making by providing no evidence of the allegations whatsoever.
Trudeau kept reiterating that Canada is a country of the rule of law. This is despite rampant terrorism, racism, and Hindu hatred emanating from Canadian soil and Canadian groups meddling in the affairs of other sovereign states.
Trudeau was also asked about how his government has failed to garner global support against India as against when it successfully rallied international support when two of its citizens, both named Michael, were detained by China. “It seems that countries are less eager to take as firm a stand against India. Why do you think that is?” the media asked.
Trudeau replied, “In the situation of the two Michaels, Canada grounded itself in the rule of law, in our values, in upholding our international treaties and obligations and demonstrated that as a country of the rule of law, we will remain anchored in it. That’s what we did as a country and that’s what we do on the international stage whether we’re standing up for Ukraine, or emphasizing the international rules-based order in other contexts.”
He added, “The rule of law is there to protect Canadians, it’s there to protect all citizens around the world and Canada will always be crystal clear on our defence of that for the protection and safety of everyone.”
When asked if Trudeau would share the evidence against India and what precautions or security measures Canada is taking at the Indian High Commission, he went on to repeat his message in different words talking about the Canadian justice system. “In terms of safety in Canada and safety of Canadians, we always take the safety of Canadians extremely seriously, whether at home or overseas, I can assure everyone that Canada is a safe country. I continue to call for calm and for Canadians to remain true to who we are, open, respectful, grounded, respect and trust in our institutions and our law enforcement and justice system.”
Trudeau was also asked if the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had handled the situation well knowing that Nijjar was aware that there was a threat to his life and he had been meeting intelligence officers about the same. “I am wondering if you are concerned at all about how this was handled by the RCMP and whether there should be a review of the fact that this couldn’t have been prevented,” the media asked.
In an eerily controversial answer, Trudeau said that the safety of such Canadian citizens is key who sometimes come to Canada fleeing regimes that share very different values in various parts of the world than Canada. “And when they come to Canada, when they become Canadian citizens, they deserve to be fully protected and that’s something we have always taken seriously and we will always look to do even more to keep Canadians safe.”
Responding to a last question on the matter, Trudeau said that Canada is not looking to provoke or cause problems. “But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and about the importance of protecting Canadians and standing up for our values. That’s why we call upon the government of India to work with us, to establish processes to discover and to uncover the truth of the matter and to allow justice and accountability to be served.”
It would seem like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has counted his chickens before they are hatched by blaming India for the murder of a Khalistani terrorist and downgrading diplomatic ties without any evidence, and any investigation. Trudeau knows he has done perhaps irreparable damage by accusing a sovereign State in a matter which has exposed terrorism, anti-India, anti-Hindu emerging from Canadian soil.
