Toronto, Nov 13: As Justin Trudeau introduced a fresh sour note in bilateral ties with India, amid the continuing diplomatic standoff; affirming his earlier claim of Indian involvement in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, strategic experts on Sunday said the cat was set among the pigeons by the Canadian Prime Minister himself and he is now trying to “manage the situation”. Foreign Affairs analyst Robinder Sachdev said it was very “irresponsible” of Trudeau to make the allegations against New Delhi when the investigation is still ongoing and has not yet pointed to Indian involvement.He also pointed out that it was it was Ottawa that first expelled an Indian diplomat, and, as is customary in the realms of diplomacy, New Delhi is expected to retaliate.
“Justin Trudeau is trying to manage the damage that was inflicted by him only…he is accusing India of violating the Vienna Convention. It should be asked, who expelled the first diplomat. It was Canada that expelled a senior Indian diplomat. Now, reciprocity is the principle of diplomacy. So, once you trigger the situation, India will retaliate”.
“He is still saying that we have serious doubts and we are investigating. So he made such big claims even before the investigation was complete. It was a huge mistake from the point of diplomacy and Canada is bearing its brunt,” he added.
Weighing in on the diplomatic row, former diplomat KP Fabian rued the fact that tensions between the two countries were showing no signs of a let-up, adding that it was Trudeau himself who started the tension.
“Regarding the expulsion of 41 Canadian diplomats. To get the story right, Canada expelled one diplomat and in tit-for-tat, India expelled one Canadian diplomat. Thereafter, India said that there are many Canadian diplomats in India, as compared to Indian diplomats in Canada. And the Canadian diplomats are interfering in Indian matters. Therefore, there has to be parity and 41 diplomats have to leave,” Fabian said.