‘Sabotage’ of 2016 talks upset India
Did Canada’s denial of visa for dialogue with Sikh groups sour ties?
NEWDELHI: Did the obstruction by Canadian authorities of a crucial meeting between radical Sikh groups and an interlocutor and senior BJP leader Ram Madhav in 2016 contribute to the frosty reception accorded to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit to India?
People familiar with the matter believe it may have been one event, and a very significant one, in a long list of incidents that have affected relations between the two countries.
In November 2016, Madhav travelled to Canada for a meeting with Sikh groups that had been arranged by UK-based Jasdev Singh Rai of the Sikh Human Rights Group. The plan was for Rai to travel from the UK to join Madhav in Toronto as the Sikh representatives were unwilling to hold talks in Rai’s absence.
Rai, a British citizen who had travelled to Canada at least 25 times and had kept the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in the loop about his contacts with the Sikh groups, put in a request for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to Canada on November 17, 2016, thinking it would be a mere formality.
However, the ETA clearance — usually done within 24 hours — never came and Rai was unable to join Madhav in Canada, two people familiar with the developments said.
Madhav, who had earlier participated in similar talks with UK-based Sikh groups (also organised by Rai) and had plans to discuss the terms of a dialogue with Canada-based Sikh groups, was angered after he was left cooling his heels in Toronto, one of the two added on condition of anonymity. In Rai’s absence, the key Sikh groups refused to join the talks and Madhav could only meet two representatives, Ranjit Singh and Parminder Singh, before he left Canada for the US after about 24 hours, this person added.
The second person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified, confirmed this turn of events. Rai, currently in Geneva for meetings at the UN, on Wednesday accused the Canadian government of “sabotaging” the Indian government’s efforts to engage Sikh separatists in a dialogue.
He said Canadian authorities had formally told him about his ETA being denied on “security grounds” only on January 27, 2017 – more than two months after he had applied for it.
“Trudeau should stop pretending that he is defending freedom of expression of Khalistanis and come clean that his government has obstructed the peace dialogue process between the Modi Government and Sikh separatists,” Rai said.
The second person familiar with the matter said Indian authorities had learnt that Rai had been denied a visa after proKhalistan groups lobbied Canada’s defence minister Harjit Sajjan, a key member of Trudeau’s cabinet. Sajjan is understood to have played a part in blocking the visa.