Trudeau’s trip was both misinformed and myopic

Misadventures in India were his own fault, writes Gurprit S. Kindra.

Nearly a year and a half before the next federal election, Justin Trudeau’s re-election campaign — in India — took a weird turn.

India has big plans: The government in New Delhi foresees investments of US$4.5 trillion by 2040 on clean power, bridges, dams, roads and modern urban infrastructure. Leaders from Europe, South Korea, China and Japan are sharply focused on Indian markets, and their country delegations are making significant inroads. Canada, in spite of its deep expertise in infrastructure development, as well as its much touted Sikh diaspora, is struggling to improve trade with India — currently a minuscule $8 billion a year, nearly the same volume as its daily business with the United States.

In 2010, the Stephen Harper government initiated negotiations with India and proposed a landmark Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries. The modalities of CEPA have been debated and negotiated ad nauseam, and Trudeau’s visit could have resulted in a breakthrough: a true feather in the prime minister’s cap.

However, it became clear early during his weeklong visit that bilateral discussions between the two countries were more or less downgraded and that the Indian side valued containment of Sikh separatists in Canada over any trade deal.

Last Wednesday, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was launching the “trillion dollars” infrastructure investment summit in Lucknow, capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, our minister of infrastructure was baking chapatis at the famed Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar. And while the team from Canada was hobnobbing with the stars of Bollywood, business leaders from other countries were negotiating partnerships in R&D in quantum-computing — in India’s silicon valley, Bangalore. No visiting dignitary with a view to expanding trade with India has ever missed an opportunity to meet with the tech titans of this city. The absurdity of Trudeau’s itinerary in India is baffling, to say the least.

While Indians predictably went gaga over Trudeau’s “cute” family garbed in Sikh attire and kneading dough at the Golden Temple along with his four Sikh cabinet colleagues, the symbolism of the act was not lost on the political establishment. When Sophie GrégoireTrudeau posed with a Indo-Canadian Sikh separatist, Jaspal Atwal — convicted of attempted murder of an Indian politician in 1986 — the reaction was swift and predictable. Furious politicians and opinion makers weighed in via dozens of media outlets; WhatsApp (used by more than 100 million Indians to gossip and conduct business) went into overdrive with comments about “naive” Trudeau and simply “omg ”). The Canadian government quickly rescinded Atwal’s invitation to the formal dinner with the Trudeaus at the High Commission for Canada, but the damage was done. Subsequent discussions with Indian officials morphed into defensive posturing and damage control.

Trudeau’s misadventure in India is entirely of his own making. Compared to China, India is low-hanging fruit when it comes to trade, as long as you do not interfere with its complicated domestic politics. While the victory lap of four senior cabinet ministers of Sikh heritage might hold some political advantage for the Liberals in Canada, the government’s approach was misinformed and myopic.

True to his style, about 12 hours before his formal talks with Trudeau, Modi set the tone for the talks with a warmly fuzzy and meaningless message. He tweeted how much he was looking forward to meeting with the First Family of Canada — particularly the children; he included a playful picture with Ella- Grace from his 2015 visit to Canada.

Was Trudeau snubbed? Not at all; rather, he was graciously greeted, hugged and embraced by his counterpart. The interactions were warm and lukewarm: full of bonhomie yet punctuated with moments of awkward silence — just like when an important but distant relative comes calling. No business; only small talk. At lunch, effusive compliments were exchanged. Modi played with the Trudeau kids and likely cracked a joke about Trudeau’s chapatirolling skills.

Then the charming Trudeaus said their adieus, and everyone went back to work.