PM Modi’s G7 visit, Khalistan, India-Canada Trade…! Canadian ex-Minister Ujjal Dosanjh weighs in

ANI

Vancouver (Canada), June 12, 2025 (ANI): While talking to ANI, Canadian Former Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh on June 12 spoke on different issues including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s G7 Summit visit, Khalistan, India-Canada Trade relations.

Transcript

00:00India, now the world's fourth largest economy, is an indispensable global player.

00:05With Prime Minister Modi's presence at the G7 summit,

00:08how do you see this influencing Canada's approach to resettling

00:11strained bilateral ties, particularly in the wake of past tensions

00:15over Khalistan-related issues?

00:19Well, I think Mr. Carney, when he was running during the campaign,

00:24he had already said that he wanted to reset Canada-India relations.

00:30I think at that time, India hadn't graduated to the fourth place.

00:36And so he already saw the importance and significance of the country

00:43on the international stage.

00:45And I think that now that India has moved to the fourth place,

00:50that only probably encouraged him more.

00:54As well, I think that other partners in the G7 may have spoken to Mr. Carney

01:01and said, you know, right or wrong, India may have some issues with you,

01:06but we shouldn't ignore India in the long run and deal with your issues

01:11in the way you can.

01:12I mean, that's how leaders do that sometimes.

01:16Okay.

01:18Several Sikh groups are protesting Canadian PM Carney's invitation to PM Modi.

01:23How seriously should Canada view these protests?

01:26Considering these groups have arguably done more damage to Canada's international image

01:31than to India's interests.

01:32Well, they did a huge damage to our image as a country when they brought down Kanishka in 1985.

01:43Long before that, in fact, terrorist Dilwinder Pirmar had killed some police officers and run to India.

01:54And Indira Gandhi, in fact, had sought the extradition of Mr. Pirmar.

02:01And at that time, I believe we didn't have an extradition treaty and Mr. Pirmar was never sent back.

02:08And then Mr. Pirmar became the top mastermind of the Air India Terror.

02:15So in a sense, we've already been damaged hugely by these elements.

02:21And they continue to do damage to Canada, Canada's image in the world.

02:25Canada's political parties have allowed these elements to seep into them.

02:31And in fact, the former Prime Minister Harper spoke some days ago saying,

02:35just like we would not entertain anyone that wants to separate Quebec from Canada

02:41within the parties that want to govern Canada as a country.

02:46Similarly, we shouldn't be allowing elements into our political parties

02:51that want to dismember friendly countries.

02:53He said that some days ago.

02:56And I've felt that all along.

02:58And I think that Mr. Carney may secretly believe in the same thing,

03:03although he hasn't said so.

03:07Sir, India has long sought the extradition of 26 fugitives,

03:11including Khalistani extremists.

03:14Is PM Carney likely to act on these demands?

03:16I had spoken to Mr. Verma, the High Commissioner who had left India during this kerfuffle.

03:26And he had, in fact, publicly said that Canada was now beginning to move on several of those requests.

03:36Now, where they are and how far the movement has taken place, I don't know.

03:41I believe that Canada is open.

03:45There is an extradition treaty.

03:47Canada is open to working on the evidence that's been provided in many of these cases.

03:53That's what the High Commissioner actually said publicly and told me in a conversation.

03:57How significant is PM Modi's visit for boosting India-Canada trade relations?

04:08Well, I believe it is very significant because, you know, Canada exports a lot of grains to India,

04:17a lot of dals and the stuff.

04:20And I have a friend who is in that business and is suffering because, you know, no trains are leaving from his place.

04:29And I believe that it's very, very important, both in terms of trade and in terms of international issues.

04:38We have similar interests being democracies.

04:41And I believe that India-Canada, both being, in a sense, somewhat non-alliant or having strategic independence, as we call it,

04:55I think they have a lot in common to work on in the international stage.

05:01Given recent diplomatic strains, what steps is Canada taking to rebuild, trust, and ensure long-term cooperation with India?

05:09Well, you already have.

05:12The first step was that Mr. Carney indicated during the election that he wanted to reset the relationship.

05:18This opportunity of G7, Canada being the chair, came quickly.

05:23And he was able to actually fulfill that promise, at least the beginning of that promise,

05:29and invited Mr. Modi and Isaac that hopefully, you know, I mean, the Niger issue aside,

05:36I mean, that is an important issue.

05:38And Mr. Carney has indicated that the countries have agreed to work law enforcement to law enforcement to deal with those issues.

05:48You know, look, countries always have issues that they're not happy about with each other,

05:56but they still are able to work on multiple tracks at the same time.

06:00So you can work with the legal issues surrounding Niger on one track,

06:06while on the several other tracks, trade, people-to-people relations, other international issues,

06:13the two countries can work happily together.

06:16And I hope they do.

06:17How do you respond to the recent incident in Vancouver, where journalist Mokka Vizirgaan was reportedly surrounded,

06:26threatened and had his phone snatched by Khalistani supporters during their rally?

06:29Well, you know, Khalisthanis, many of them say that violence is appropriate in achieving their objectives.

06:40And they've never shied away from violence.

06:42Here in India is just the most violent symbol of the violence that they preach and practice.

06:52And that is going to continue unless somebody is prosecuted.

06:57And Canada has been slow.

06:59It's my country.

06:59I always said that it's been slow to prosecute Khalistani violence.

07:04And as long as they don't prosecute threats and violence that's done by the Khalistanis,

07:12Canada is destined to suffer from this scourge for a long time.

07:18It is in Canada's interest to deal with these elements.

07:22Yes, it's in India's interest too.

07:24But it is more in Canada's interest for its own peace and security within its own borders

07:32and the security of its own people.

07:36Given the recent extradition of Mohammed Shah Zaeb Khan,

07:40a Pakistani national residing in Canada,

07:42on charges of plotting an ISIS-inspired terror attack in New York,

07:47how concerned should Canadians be about the presence and radicalization of extremist elements in the country?

07:54Well, Canada is very concerned and Canada should be concerned.

07:58I mean, we had close to 100 Canadians that went to fight alongside ISIS during the last many years.

08:07And many of them came back and were prosecuted.

08:10And some of them are in jail.

08:12And so Canada is quite conscious of the threat posed by violent extremists of all kinds.

08:19You know, Canada belatedly, of course, tried to prosecute the Air India suspects as well.

08:29That prosecution, unfortunately, was not successful.

08:32So Canada is quite conscious.

08:35You know, Canada works on its own track.

08:39And therefore, sometimes sitting far away,

08:43you might not see that Canada is actually making all these efforts.

08:48Pictures and videos of a recent Khalistani rally in Vancouver occurring viral,

08:52where along with Khalistani flags, a Pakistani flag was also seen.

08:57Does this not expose Islamabad's hand-in-glove role in fueling separatism on Canadian soil?

09:03Well, of course it does.

09:06But people like me have known about it since the 1970s.

09:10The first state declaration of Khalistan was made in either Washington Post or New York Times

09:17by Jadji Singh Chauhan.

09:19And he had just visited Pakistan.

09:21So with ISI money, or Pakistani money, funneled at that time by the CIA to Pakistan,

09:27that's how the first declaration was made in the United States of America.

09:33And I met Chauhan in the 70s in Canada.

09:36He visited here several times.

09:39And Burmaar and the like, many of those people became his followers

09:45and then separated because they were more violent than any, and he was non-violent.

09:51And so there was that schism.

09:52You know, we have always known about the ISI connection.

09:58We still believe that some of the current activities,

10:02like the likes of Pannu and others, are Pakistani agents.

10:06I mean, his hand-in-glove are Pakistanis in the United States of America.

10:10We've known that.

10:11India has known that.

10:13Canadian politicians, many of them, gullible as they are,

10:17either turn a blind eye or are ignorant of that.

10:21And I think that with the Pakistani flag doing the rounds in the Khalistani demonstrations,

10:28Canadian politicians would become aware of the kind of heinous policy

10:34that Pakistanis have had for a long time to destabilize India, Punjab.

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