The current crisis between India and Canada over the issue of Khalistani separatism has been festering for decades. Gateway House has been tracking the global Khalistani network and its impact on the India-Canada bilateral since 2018.
Khalistan separatist propaganda continues
By Terry Milewski, journalist, former Senior Correspondent at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and author of “Blood for blood: Fifty years of the global Khalistan project”.
India’s ban on the separatist group Sikhs for Justice helps to conceal what they really mean by “justice”. SFJ’s continuing firehose of publicity shows no interest in the human rights of the thousands of innocents who died in Khalistani terrorist attacks during the 1980s and ’90s. Quite the contrary. Read more
AAP, ISI, Khalistan and the counter spin
By Aditya Bhan, Assistant Professor of Economics at FLAME University, Pune.
Pro-Khalistan organisations have collaborated with the ISI to disseminate anti-India narratives and influence the Indian diaspora. While this has little traction within the country, there is a need for India to extend support to those expatriate Indian communities which are actively countering the misinformation spread by these organisations and Pakistan-sponsored fringe groups. Read more
By Manjeet Kripalani, Executive Director, Gateway House; Sameer Patil is Director, Center for International Security and Fellow, National Security Studies, Gateway House; Sifra Lentin is Bombay History Fellow at Gateway House; Chaitanya Giri is Fellow, Space and Ocean Studies, Gateway House; and Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Gateway House.
The recent opening of the Kartarpur corridor in Punjab and the release of a Canadian parliamentary report on the security breach during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s India visit are important developments. They present a good opportunity for New Delhi to step up cooperation with Ottawa on countering terrorism and violent extremism. Read more
Khalistan 2.0: revival of Sikh separatism
By Sameer Patil, Director, Center for International Security and Fellow, National Security Studies, Gateway House.
Radical Sikh elements within the Indian diaspora have found the permissive political climate in Canada, North America and Europe conducive to building a support base in their respective countries, while donations from gurdwaras abroad and social media propaganda have fuelled separatist efforts in Punjab. India may have to step with care, containing the hostile propaganda, yet not appearing too stern in its response. Read more
A futuristic agenda for India & Canada
By Manjeet Kripalani, Executive Director, Gateway House, and Sameer Patil, Director, Center for International Security and Fellow, National Security Studies, Gateway House.
India can draw Canada in a new direction – away from its trans-Atlantic fixation, into the Indo-Pacific and a tech and resources partnership that will benefit both democracies. Read more
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