India-Canada Relations

1.

What is the history of India-Canada relations?

• Canada and India have long standing bilateral relations built upon shared traditions of democracy, pluralism and strong interpersonal connections.
• In the early 19th century, Canada and India were part of the British Empire.
• The Indo-Canadian community was formed in the late 19th century due to the Indian emigration to Canada, majority of whom were Punjabis, which included veterans of the British Indian Army.
• India-Canada diplomatic relations were established in 1947 and developed well when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited Canada in 1949.
• After Indian Independence in 1947, the relations between the countries were furthered with Canada keen to act as a bridge between India and the Western World.
• Canadian foreign aid to India started in 1951 and grew substantially under the Colombo Plan.
• Both are member nations of the Commonwealth of Nations and are part of G20, a group of world's largest economies.
• Also the Canadian Constitution heavily influenced the Indian Constitution, with many of the same principles adopted, including the idea of a federal system.
• Year 1974 saw the deterioration of India-Canada relations due to India’s Smiling Buddha nuclear test.

2.

What is the significance of India-Canada relations?

Significance	Analysis
Bilateral relations	Canada and India have long standing bilateral relations built upon shared traditions of democracy, pluralism and strong interpersonal connections. Canada is home to one of the largest communities of Indian origin, with approximately 4% of Canadians being of Indian heritage (1.3 million people). The deep cultural and political ties between Canada and India are strengthened by a growing network of official dialogues, agreements, memoranda of understanding and working groups.
Trade relations	A priority market for Canada, in 2022, India was Canada’s 10th largest trading partner. The bilateral trade between India and Canada in 2022 was $9 billion, with India exporting $6.4 billion and importing $4.1 billion in goods. The Bilateral reached US$ 8.27 billion in FY23 and US$ 5.3 billion during April-November 2023. In 2024 (January – April), total bilateral trade in goods amounted to USD 3.11 billion (India's exports: USD 1.90 billion and India's imports: USD 1.21 billion). Canadian pension funds have pledged over USD 55 billion in investments between 2014 and 2020. Canada and India are working toward a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). Canada is India’s 17th largest foreign investor, pouring in more than $3.6bn since 2000.
Education	Since 2018, India has been the largest source country for international students in Canada. In 2022, Indian students number rose 47 percent to nearly 320,000, accounting for about 40 percent of overseas students, according to the Canadian Bureau for International Education.
Development Cooperation	Canada has invested nearly $24 million in 2018- 2019 to support 75 projects in India through its Non profit organizations like Grand Challenges Canada.
Defense cooperation	An MoU between DRDO and Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) for development of military and defense related technology, infrastructure, training and services was signed in October 2016 which was renewed in 2021.
Civil Nuclear Cooperation	A Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) with Canada was signed in June 2010 and came into force in September 2013. The Appropriate Arrangement (AA) for the NCA was signed in March 2013, under which a Joint Committee on Civil Nuclear Cooperation was constituted.
Space Cooperation	ISRO and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) signed two MoUs in the field of exploration and utilization of outer space in October 1996 and March 2003, under which two implementing Arrangements regarding satellite tracking and space astronomy were signed. ANTRIX, the Commercial arm of ISRO, has launched several nanosatellites from Canada. ISRO in its 100th Satellite PSLV launched in January 2018, also flew the Canadian first LEO satellite.
COVID-19 vaccine collaboration	On the request from Canadian government in February 2021 for COVID-19 vaccines, India approved export of 2 million Covishield vaccines to Canada under commercial agreement between Serum Institute of India and Verity Pharmaceuticals of Canada. On March 3, 2021, the first tranche of 500,000 doses of vaccines arrived from India to Canada.

3.

What is the timeline of tension in India-Canada relations?

4.

What is the role of the US in the India-Canada tussle?

5.

What are the Challenges in India-Canada Relations?

6.

What is the Khalistan movement?

• Khalistan is the name of the proposed state envisioned by some Sikhs, incorporating the Indian state of Punjab as well as other Punjabi-speaking areas of northern India to establish a Sikh nation.
• The ethno-religious liberation movement gained traction in the 1970s and early 80s in India.

• There is division among supporters of Khalistan on the boundaries of a sovereign Sikh state, but most agree that it would encompass the state of Punjab in India.

7.

Which prominent Khalistan activists have been killed recently?

Khalistan activists	Analysis
Hardeep Singh Nijjar	Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a Sikh gurdwara on June 18,2023 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population, three years after India had designated him a “terrorist”. Nijjar was born in 1977 in Punjab’s Jalandhar district and he moved to Canada in 1997. He was initially associated with the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) Sikh separatist group, according to India’s counterterrorism National Investigation Agency.
Avtar Singh Khanda	In June, 2023, Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, the alleged head of the Khalistan Liberation Force and aide to Amritpal Singh, died in the UK, following a diagnosis of terminal cancer. But the circumstances of his death were described as “mysterious”, with some attributing his demise to poisoning. He was the face of the March 19 protest at Indian high commission in London.
Paramjit Singh Panjwar	Paramjit Singh Panjwar, 63, was the alleged head of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), a Sikh Khalistani armed organization operating in Punjab. Panjwar was gunned down in Lahore, Pakistan by two unidentified gunmen in May, 2023. Panjwar played a significant role in the Sikh rebellion in India during the 1980s and 90s.
Harmeet Singh	In January 2020, the alleged leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Harmeet Singh 38, was killed near Lahore, Pakistan. He was succeeded by Avtar Singh Khanda, who took over as the KLF leader in 2020, according to reports. He was accused of murders in India and training fighters for the Khalistan movement.

8.

Why is Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau supporting Khalistan extremism?

Reasons	Analysis
The NDP alliance	Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's ally is NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who is a Khalistan sympathizer. According to the recent poll, Singh's popularity has slipped four points since September 2022, with 22 percent of respondents saying he’s the best choice to lead the government.
The 2025 Canadian elections	The Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s polling momentum continues to chug along with 40 percent of Canadians saying he’s the best choice to be prime minister, according to a new Ipsos poll done exclusively for Global News. Regionally, Poilievre’s favourables top the list in every province and region except for Quebec. The poll shows Poilievre has pulled ahead as preferred PM in Ontario at 42%, compared to Trudeau’s 38%. Notably, on the ongoing diplomatic stand-off between India and Canada, Poilievre had stated that the Canadian PM should come out clean with all the facts.

9.

What is the Kanishka Air India bombing?

• On 23 June 1985, an Air India flight traveling from Canada to India via London, exploded off the Irish coast, killing all 329 people on board.
• Air India Boeing 747 was named after the Kushan dynasty emperor Kanishka.
• The cause was a bomb in a suitcase that was transferred to the flight even though the ticket holder had not boarded.
• The victims included 268 Canadian citizens, mostly of Indian origin, and 24 Indians.
• Canadian investigators have alleged that the bombings were planned by Sikh separatists who wanted to take revenge for the Indian army's deadly 1984 storming of the Golden Temple in Punjab state.
• A few months after the attack, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested Talwinder Singh Parmar who was the leader of an extremist group called Babbar Khalsa that is now banned in Canada.
• Parmar was the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), better known as Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant group involved in the Khalistan movement.
• After the bombing, the Canadian government did not cooperate as Justin’s father Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau refused to extradite him to India on the specious plea that India.
• But the case against Parmar whom India had unsuccessfully tried to get extradited from Canada in the early 1980s was flimsy and he was released.
• In 2000, police arrested Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri on a number of charges including mass murder and conspiracy but in 2005, after an expensive trial that lasted almost two years, both men were acquitted of all charges
• Canadian authorities have been accused of not doing enough to prevent the attack and of bungling the investigation.
• The Canadian government set up a public inquiry in 2006, headed by a former Supreme Court judge, to look into the bombing.
• It concluded in 2010 that a "cascading series of errors" had led to the "largest mass murder in Canadian history".
• In 2010, after the inquiry report was released, then Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a public apology to the families of the victims.

10.

How Canada became a hub for separatists?

• During the eighties and nineties when Sikh movement was at its peak in Indian Punjab, it needed funds, support and people who could formulate their strategy for them.
• Canada has the second largest Sikh population in the world after India, and hence ever since the Khalistan separatist movement started in Indian Punjab, Canada has been in the news
• Canada proved to be an ideal place which had a similar ratio of Sikh population as India and strong anti-Indian sentiments fueled by Pakistan ISI and separatists who ran away from India to seek shelter.
• An important factor for them to take shelter in Canada itself was that the Canadian laws were so weak that it was difficult to prosecute anyone who has committed a crime elsewhere.
• India was in political doldrums for over two decades and due to weak foreign policy, could not put a check on this.

11.

How has Canada become a haven for Punjabi gangsters?

• Since the 1980s, when a large number of Punjabis began to move to Canada, ethnic Punjabi gangs have become part of the Canadian landscape.
• Canadian soil has now become fertile land for gangsters and in recent years, their activity has increased significantly, paving the way for gang wars to break out.
• The strong presence of Khalistani leaders and terrorists in Canada help fund these gangsters and also enable their movement from India to the foreign land.
• It is reported that Sikhs for Justice, a pro-Khalistani group which is banned in India, is backing these gangsters.
• Additionally, the Canadian authorities, under the Justin Trudeau government, have taken little to no action against them.
• It’s also known that gangster Satinderjit Singh Brar, alias Goldy Brar, who is also a key accused in the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala, resides in Canada.
• In May, he was placed among the top 25 most wanted fugitives in Canada.
• Brar reached Canadian shores in 2017, is also accused of orchestrating the targeted killings of at least two more persons, attempt to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and illegal arms trafficking in India.

12.

What is the Five Eyes group?

• The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an Anglosphere intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Its genesis lies in the post-war 1946 UKUSA Agreement, intended as a cooperative arrangement for sharing signals intelligence (SIGINT).
• These nations collaboratively work on intelligence matters, pooling their resources and sharing sensitive information to ensure collective security and combat global threats.
• Beyond the core Five Eyes, there are also extended alliances known as the Nine Eyes and Fourteen Eyes.
• The Nine Eyes alliance includes the original Five Eyes countries along with countries Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Norway.
• The Fourteen Eyes further extends this group by also including Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Sweden.
• These alliances enhance global surveillance capabilities, but also spark debates about privacy and the boundaries of national security.

13.

What could be the implications of an escalating India-Canada diplomatic row?

• The deepening acrimony in India-Canada bilateral ties could not only affect the bilateral relations but also harm India’s global reputation.

• The potential consequences of the escalating dispute are:

14.

What Should be the Way ahead?

What is the relevance of the topic for UPSC CSE?

For Prelims: Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Commonwealth, G20, Space Collaborations.

For Mains: Bilateral Relations, India - Canada, Trade Pacts and Agreements, Multilateral Institutions, Security and Growth.

Some Previous Years Prelims Questions