As world leaders gather for the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Khalistani extremists staged a massive protest in Calgary against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thousands of Khalistani supporters took to the streets, waving Khalistan flags and chanting slogans against India and Hindus. This anti-India demonstration comes at a time when relations between India and Canada are already strained due to Canada’s soft-approach approach towards Khalistani agenda.
Reacting to this, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri lashed out at the pro-Khalistan protestors holding demonstrations ahead of the G7 Summit in Canada. Puri termed them as “kiraye ke tatto” (rented protestors) and said that they should not be taken “seriously”.
“They (pro-Khalistani supporters) staged a dharna from the neighbouring country (Pakistan) where they get funding, but when they did not get the funding, they turned on them.
Following his visit to Cyprus, the Prime Minister Modi will travel to Kananaskis, Canada, to attend the G7 Summit on June 16-17. He has been invited by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. This will be PM Modi’s sixth consecutive participation in the G7 Summit.
The visit comes at a time when bilateral ties between the two nations have been strained in recent years, primarily due to Canada’s leniency towards Khalistani separatist elements. However, PM Modi’s invitation by newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney comes after a prolonged fractured relations between the two nations during the tenure of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This invite by Mark Carney has stirred reactions in Canada while also reinforcing India’s growing centrality on the global stage.
Meanwhile, before PM Modi’s visit to Canada, Khalistanis led a protest car rally ahead of the G7 Summit. They have branded their recent protests as ‘Ambush and Kill India’s PM’ politics.
https://twitter.com/KhaleejMag/status/1934537191381684567
“Yes, I am ready to kill Modi politics, ambush Modi,” said Manjinder Singh, leading the convoy from Gurdwara Dashmesh in Calgary. “He is an enemy of Canada, this Hindu terrorist Narendra Modi,” he said, asking Canadians to join them for the “ambush tomorrow.”
In another video going viral on social media from Canada, brainwashed Sikh children were seen kicking PM Modi’s photo ahead of the G7 Summit.
https://twitter.com/MrSinha_/status/1934450583462908019
In response to pro-Khalistan protests in Canada, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa expressed grave concern, saying, “Some people have now started using even children for their political agendas. These are just a handful of individuals who have tried every tactic possible, and now they are attempting to influence the minds of young children. Because of this, Sikhs around the world are being defamed. Sikhs across the globe are being viewed differently. This behaviour reflects the mindset of the Taliban”.
On the other hand, the Indian diaspora across Canada and the United States has extended a warm welcome and expressed hope for a renewed chapter in India-Canada relations.
“We warmly welcome you to Canada and hope that with your arrival, the relations between India and Canada will grow stronger and more prosperous,” said Harjit Singh Sandhu, Vice Chairman of the India Canada Organisation (ICO), Montreal.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Harpreet Singh, a Canada-based journalist, noted the importance of the G7 platform.
“The world is passing through a critical phase, and the G7 meeting in Alberta will be a great opportunity for world leaders to brainstorm and find solutions to pressing global challenges,” Singh said.
“Our Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi from India, which is a welcome step. There have been issues between India and Canada in the past few years, and I hope during this meeting, things are sorted out and a new path is chosen where both countries develop and prosper,” said Harpreet Singh.
Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal has criticised pro-Khalistan elements in Canada for posters targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to the G7 summit in Calgary. In a sharp statement, he said India-Canada relations could not improve unless Ottawa acts against such groups.
“It is unacceptable that such elements in Canada should be allowed to target the Indian PM. Such laxity is condemnable,” Sibal said.
Meanwhile, former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategic diplomacy and called for firm action against Khalistani extremism.
“The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real,” Rubin said, accusing Trudeau of appeasing radical Sikh extremists in Canada and shifting blame to India rather than acknowledging domestic issues.
Rubin further elaborated on Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, saying, “Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s critics will acknowledge that he has grown tremendously in office and he’s now one of the most influential statesmen not only in Asia but in the world. The fact of the matter is that this magnanimity is strategic and it also forces the Canadians to recognise that the problem all along was in Canada and not with India. So, kudos to Prime Minister Modi for this strategy and for rejoining and agreeing to go to Alberta and the fact of the matter is that a strong relationship between India and all of North America is within everybody’s interests, especially given the rise of China.”
Touching upon the issue of Khalistani extremism, Rubin stressed the importance of decisive measures from Canada. He said, “It is so essential that India continued to press Canada to address the Khalistan movement head-on to designate the Khalistan movement and extremists as terrorists, to uproot terror finance and to stigmatize forever these groups that really have no popular legitimacy back home in Punjab or for that matter, among the larger peaceful Sikh community in Canada. It’s time to stop allowing the loud, extreme voices to win and instead recognise that those same loud, extreme voices oftentimes deserve to be in prison for their involvement in terror, tax fraud and organised crime in Canada, in San Francisco and elsewhere.”
New York-based expert on Khalistani terrorism, Puneet Sahani, believes that the Khalistani agitation is severely damaging Canada’s international reputation.
Sahani explained that, unlike the original wave of militants who migrated in the 1980s, today’s Khalistan movement is increasingly driven by a new generation of activists, many of whom were born and raised in North America. These individuals, he said, are “even more radicalised” than their predecessors, despite having little or no lived experience of life in Punjab.
Meanwhile, intelligence reports confirm that India’s central agencies have issued detailed missives to Canadian authorities, cautioning about threats and asking them to ensure stronger security measures amid PM Modi’s visit.
The warnings come amid growing activities by pro-Khalistan terror outfits in the region, which have frequently targeted Indian diplomatic missions and officials in the past. Agencies have assessed that PM Modi’s presence in Canada, a country where Khalistani groups have dominance and have seen a resurgence in recent years could be exploited for disruptive demonstrations or worse.
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