Is Canada acting out of character by blocking the content and social media handles of The Australia Today? The block prevented the broadcast of the press conference of External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.
“If Canada has a problem with India why are they targeting us,” asked Jai Bhardwaj, editor in chief of Australia Today. “We are happy to interview the Canadian prime minister about his views on the Indian diaspora.”
A former high commissioner to Ottawa suspects the Canadians may be going into overdrive, concerned that India may have gained the advantage in the information battle on the Khalistan issue, and therefore the need for some “information management”.
That translated into Australia Today getting the short end of the Canadian stick. It was different for the Washington Post, where the intention was to push stories that reflected the Canadian government’s view.
Case in point, Nathalie Drouin, Canada’s national security and intelligence adviser confirming she had given India’s Home Minister Amit Shah’s name to the Washington Post.
“The journalist called me and asked me if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Drouin said at a briefing last month, also confirming it was “part of a communications strategy”.
She did not say how she knew of his involvement.
Prime Minister Trudeau had also acknowledged last month that “It was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof”, the government had of India’s role in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“I was briefed on the fact that that there was intelligence from Canada and possibly from Five Eyes that made it fairly, incredibly clear, that India was involved in this,” Trudeau was quoted as saying. “Agents of the Government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil.”
Jaishankar’s response, during his press interaction with his Australian counterpart, summed up India’s stand.
“Canada has developed a pattern of making allegations without providing specifics. When we look at Canada … the fact that they’re putting our diplomats under surveillance is something which is unacceptable. We believe in freedoms, we also believe freedoms should not be abused.”
Trudeau’s admission on Friday, at an event with members of the Indian community to celebrate Diwali, appeared to go some way towards accepting that Khalistanis are a Canadian problem.
“There are many supporters of Khalistan in Canada but they do not represent the Sikh community as a whole.”
Although accompanied by a swipe at Modi, “There are supporters of the Modi government in Canada but they do not represent Hindu Canadians as a whole,” the comment may suggest Trudeau has overstepped on Khalistan. The question is whether that will lead to further calibration in Canada’s stand on the issue.
