Is the West conspiring against a rising India?

On Chhoti Diwali, amid the usual celebrations, good tidings arrived from the Sino-Indian border. India and China had completed troop disengagement in eastern Ladakh. The majority of Indians, who love peace and security, were overjoyed. But the euphoria was short-lived.

A few hours later, another news item shocked one and all. Canadian deputy foreign minister David Morrison told a parliamentary committee in his country that he had told some United States (US) newspapers that the home minister of India was behind certain killings on Canadian soil. This statement was a gross violation of established diplomatic norms, which stipulate that such sensitive information needs to be shared with the concerned nation only via diplomatic channels.
It was bizarre that a senior minister of a country was planting stories against a popular political figure from the world’s largest democracy, while the chief of its police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told the same committee that anyone could be involved in the killings. It means the Canadian government is relying on propaganda rather than proof of Indian involvement in the matter.
A few months ago, Canada’s Prime Minister (PM), Justin Trudeau, also made “credible allegations” against India, insisting that he had received inputs from intelligence sources.
What should we make of such baseless allegations? Is it impudence or sheer arrogance? Trudeau’s opponents feel he’s purposely making such statements to garner Sikh votes. His words may sway a handful of extremists, but the majority of Canadian Sikhs have no interest in Khalistan. The Trudeau government, though, is still going all out to attract Khalistanis. Had it not been so, Canada wouldn’t have expelled seven Indian diplomats without any credible reason.
We should keep in mind another disturbing fact: Those who risked life and limb during the insurgency in Punjab to preserve India’s integrity find it nigh impossible to enter Canada today while extremist elements have a free run.
You’ll be surprised to know that after Turkey and Iran, the highest number of separatists from India sought refuge in Canada. This year Canada cancelled Diwali celebrations, breaking with a 23-year tradition, indicating the direction in which that country is headed. Sadly, even the US has backed Canada on this issue. Is it a concerted effort by powerful Western nations to corner India? The possibility can’t be ruled out.
Two questions beg answers in this context. Why were baseless allegations levelled against the Indian home minister precisely on the day the Sino-Indian troop disengagement was completed? Are some powers becoming uncomfortable with an India that’s becoming strong with a powerful PM?
A statement by Bangladesh’s former PM, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, is pertinent in this context. Without naming the US, Sheikh Hasina alleged that she was the victim of a conspiracy hatched against her in the wake of her refusal to part with a strategically placed island in Bangladesh waters.
Sheikh Hasina has always been pro-India. The two countries have always worked in tandem, and if China mends its ways, the region can progress rapidly. However, some Western countries are wary of this scenario.
The West’s hostility towards a rising India isn’t new. History is replete with such incidents. Remember Indira Gandhi’s statements during 1983 and 1984. She would insist, hinting at the Khalistan movement, that foreign powers were bent on breaking India. At that time, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), along with separatists based in Canada and other Western nations, were involved in luring unsuspecting Sikh youth into militancy. These were the people who created the monster called Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Indira Gandhi understood the dangers as many conspiracies were unleashed to destabilise India during her time. She laid down her life, fighting secessionist forces that were unleashed by Western countries.
Dragging the Union home minister into murder cases reeks of the same old dirty tricks Western nations have played in the past. There is, of course, a world of difference between Indira’s India and Modi’s Bharat but our bloody past warns us that the Indian establishment and Indians in general need to remain vigilant.
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. The views expressed are personal