Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has said that he does not want to escalate matters with India, has done quite the opposite. He brought India up during a discussion on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Trudeau posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he spoke to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan about the Israel-Hamas war and also spoke about India.
“On the phone today, His Highness @MohamedBinZayed and I spoke about the current situation in Israel. We expressed our deep concern and discussed the need to protect civilian life. We also spoke about India and the importance of upholding – and respecting – the rule of law,” he said.
His followers were quick to point out that his post comes after he repeated on a couple of occasions that he does not wish to escalate matters with India. Some even questioned if he was “complaining” about India to UAE, while some pointed out that Trudeau was trying to “drag his personal interests into a very serious international matter”.
Trudeau’s post comes amid the lowest point in India-Canada relations, following his accusations that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India had called the accusations ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’. India has been, for long, unhappy with Canada’s handling of Khalistani activists and their attacks. The Indian government said that despite India’s concerns, Canada never took any action to curb the Khalistani activities.
The diplomatic row escalated, and India retaliated by suspending visa services to Canadians as well as expelling a Canadian diplomat. New Delhi also reportedly asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic staff.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India has asked Canada to reduce diplomatic staff considering “their continuing interference in our (India’s) internal affairs” and as India seeks parity in the respective diplomatic presence.
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