Russian state media platform Sputnik News, has published a piece about the diplomatic conflict between Canada and India, surrounding the murder of a Canadian Sikh activist.
On September 18th Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, told Canadian parliamentarians that there was “credible intelligence” from Canada’s security services to link India to the killing. The allegations have severely strained Canadian-Indian relations.
The Sputnik article claims that Canada is “being used by Washington as a bludgeon to try and force India back into line”. Suggesting that the United States is controlling Canada’s relations with India.
The article goes on to claim that Canada “does not do anything without the US telling it what to do, how to do it, when to end, exactly what to say…They broke every rule in their book. So Canada is clearly not interested in human rights, and it’s certainly highly unlikely that this attack dog/poodle would suddenly go off the leash and make these exorbitant claims unless there was not some kind of coordination happening.” And “There’s no way Trudeau would have done anything by himself. The man doesn’t have an autonomous bone in his body”.
Such narratives are intended, in part, to undermine the credibility of the Canadian government and feed into existing extreme partisan anti-Trudeau biases. They also deflect attention away from the serious allegations, that the Indian government may have been involved in the June 2022 murder of a Sikh pro-independence activist in British Columbia.
FACTS:
- Canadian security agencies have allegedthat the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar can be linked to agents of the Indian government.
- The Government of India has denied any involvement
While Canada and the United States maintain close relations, share common democratic values, and coordinate on a wide range of issues, Canada’s government and its foreign policy remain independent and are not controlled by any other nation.
Here are some specific examples of Canada’s independent foreign policy:
- Canada has maintained full relations with Cuba, despite US sanctions.
- Canada declined to participate in the Vietnam War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- Canada has taken a leading role in promoting international peacekeeping and conflict resolution, often independently of the United States.
- Canada has expanded its diplomatic and economic ties to countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and it has played a role in promoting regional security and cooperation, without relying on the United States.
