Govt to raise concerns on activities of Sikh radicals
NEW DELHI: Top security officials from India and Canada have held a series of meetings ahead of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s week-long visit starting Saturday, during which India is expected to raise concerns about a spike in the activities of Sikh radicals in Canada.
The national security advisers of the two countries met here this week while the deputy NSAs met in January to discuss counterterror cooperation and regional and international security issues as part of their overarching security cooperation.
The bilateral joint working group on terrorism also met in New Delhi about two weeks ago, Canadian diplomatic sources said on Friday. While the sources declined to go into details, it is believed India has pointedly raised its concerns over the activities in Canada of radical Sikh groups espousing the cause of Khalistan. As an acknowledgement of these concerns, Trudeau is expected to affirm his government’s belief in a “strong and united” India in the course of public remarks during his visit.
Trudeau’s visit, which will take him to Agra, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Mumbai and New Delhi, will focus on expanding cooperation in key areas such as trade and investment, and defence and security cooperation. The Canadian side is expected to make a strong pitch for the early conclusion of negotiations on a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) to shore up sizeable investments in India.
Though negotiators from both sides have been in touch over the past year on the FIPA, the Indian side has indicated the investment pact should be concluded once both sides finalise negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the Canadian sources said.
“We are in the midst of negotiations on CEPA with India, our trade negotiators last met about a week ago to continue to advance the discussions,” a source said.
Trudeau, who will be accompanied by his wife Sophie Grégoire and their three children, will visit the Taj Mahal on February 18 and the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad the following day.