A former Pentagon official said that if the US has to choose between India and Canada, it will go with the South Asian power as the relationship is "too important" compared to Washington's northern neighbour.
Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Specialisation in Iran, Turkey and South Asia, while speaking to ANI, said Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's allegations have led to "greater danger" for Ottawa than New Delhi.
He pointed out that Canada picking up a fight with India is like "an ant” locking horns with “an elephant”. Referring to the Canadian PM's poor approval ratings, Rubin said, "Trudeau probably isn't long for the Canadian premiership, and then we can rebuild the relationship after he's gone.”
"I suspect that the United States doesn't want to be painted a corner to choose between two friends. But if we have to choose..., we're going to choose India on this matter, simply because Nijjar was a terrorist, and India is too important. Our relationship is too important," Michael Rubin told ANI.
Responding to the possibility of whether the US will publicly intervene in the matter, Rubin told the agency, "Frankly, there's a much greater danger for Canada than India. If Canada wants to pick a fight, frankly, at this point, it's like an ant picking a fight against an elephant and the fact that matter is, India is the world's largest democracy. It's far more important strategically, arguably than Canada is, especially as concern grows with regard to China and other matters in the Indian Ocean basin, and in the Pacific."
