India summons Canadian high commissioner over Trudeau’s comments on farmers' protests

Canadian High Commissioner to India Nadir Patel was on Friday summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and informed that ‘comments by the Canadian Prime Minister [Justin Trudeau], some cabinet ministers and members of [Canadian] parliament on issues relating to Indian farmers constitute an unacceptable interference in our internal affairs.'

The MEA told Patel that “such actions, if continued, would have a seriously damaging impact on ties between India and Canada. These comments have encouraged gatherings of extremist activities in from of our High Commission and consulates in Canada that raise issues of safety and security. We expect the Canadian government to ensure the fullest security of Indian diplomatic personnel and its political leaders to refrain from pronouncements that legitimise extremist activism.”

Trudeau, who has a large number of the Indian diaspora, specially Sikhs, in his cabinet has often played up problems in India to gain some political clout with his electorate. On occasion of Guruparab, during a Facebook interaction with Sikh Canadians, he had expressed concern about ‘news coming from India’ and had even urged the Indian government to uphold the right to peaceful protests. The farmers' agitation against the governments new agriculture laws has found resonance with many members of the Indian diaspora, who have used it to comment on Indian policies.

There have been some utterances from the diaspora in the UK, too. However, Trudeau himself took to passing comments, to which India had even earlier reacted strongly, calling them ‘ill informed’ and ‘unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country.’ India had earlier emphasised that it is ‘also best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes.''

Trudeau had said, “All of us are worried about family and friends, and this is a reality for many. Let me remind you, Canada will always defend the rights of peaceful protesters.”

While Trudeau is likely to gain political mileage with his comments in his country, in India his remarks can only have an adverse impact on the farmers' agitation, a “foreign hand” in a protest damages the entire argument that it is a democratic one. So much so that earlier, farm leader Shiv Kumar Kakkaji from Madhya Pradesh, who is part of the protest , had said that, “no outside person is allowed to interfere in India's internal issues,” though he had welcomed Trudeau's concern for the farmers.

Trudeau's habit of playing his domestic politics on foreign ground has not earned him much goodwill with India. His 2018 tour of India was a diplomatic fiasco, with Jaspal Atwal as part of his entourage. Atwal was an accused in the assassination attempt of Punjab minister Malkait Singh Sidhu during a visit to Canada in 1987. While his team later said that Atwal's inclusion was a mistake, he naturally got a tepid reception from the Indian government. Narendra Modi, then famous for protocol breaking hostings and huggings, stayed aloof.