Khalistan Obsession in Canada Is Irritating Even to Locals, Says Kushal Mehra on PM Modi's G7 Visit

Asianet News English

During PM Modi's Canada visit for G7 Summit, author Kushal Mehra slammed the Canadian political class for appeasing Khalistani elements. He said average Canadians are fed up, yet leaders like Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh continue to support them. Mehra warned against underestimating Khalistanis, calling their political influence significant and dangerous. He emphasized Indo-Canadian ties as vital for trade and values.  #PMModi #Canada #Khalistan #G7Summit #KushalMehra #IndianDiaspora #Trudeau #JagmeetSingh #IndiaCanadaRelations #Khalistani #World  🔊 LIKE ➡ SHARE ➡ SUBSCRIBE  For More Updates:  English: https://newsable.asianetnews.com/  Hindi: https://hindi.asianetnews.com/  Malayalam: https://www.asianetnews.com/  Kannada: https://kannada.asianetnews.com/  Tamil: https://tamil.asianetnews.com/  Telugu: https://telugu.asianetnews.com/  Bengali: https://bangla.asianetnews.com/  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsianetNewsa...  Follow us on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/AsianetNewsEN  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ann.newsable/  ➡ If you like our video, give us a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel to get the daily dosage of news, entertainment, sports and more.

Transcript

00:00This is an ice-breaking moment in Indo-Canadian relations.

00:04It's all good and we should be happy about it.

00:07But there is always a caveat in Canada,

00:10the Khalistani influence over the body politic of Canada is significant.

00:14You go and talk to the average Canadian, they don't even know.

00:18Right? They won't know.

00:20Now they just find the yellow flags irritating.

00:22This is a new India.

00:24It's the fourth largest economy in the world,

00:26soon to be the third largest economy in the world.

00:29It's a military power.

00:32You cannot take it lightly, especially after Operation Sindhu

00:35and what India has achieved in Operation Sindhu.

00:37You have to take the, and it is the fastest growing economy in the world.

00:41You would be monumentally stupid to spoil relations with India.

00:45Canada or India are actually the match made in heaven in terms of trade is concerned,

00:50in terms of value sharing is concerned.

00:52Well, we should start with cautious optimism

00:55because this is the Prime Minister's visit after 2015 or even before that.

01:0215, yeah, 15.

01:03So when Prime Minister Harper, that was the last time when Prime Minister Modi had come

01:07and he had met Prime Minister Harper.

01:09So we should be happy that this is happening and this is an ice breaking moment in Indo-Canadian relations.

01:15But as they say, things go south in Canada very fast and we should be cautiously optimistic.

01:21We should be very careful about our assessment of what is happening, what could happen, what could not happen.

01:26As of now, Prime Minister Carney has not given us any reasons not to be happy with him.

01:36If we look at his election campaign, that is the entire last two months or even before that,

01:42you will not see Prime Minister Carney having any Khalistani photo anywhere.

01:47I mean, if you can find one, do share it with me, but I could not.

01:51So we have to give him credit where he is due.

01:53He stayed away from those elements.

01:55So as far as India is concerned, that's a good starting point.

01:59Even when he took over as the Prime Minister from Justin Trudeau,

02:03people forget this is his second term technically, right?

02:05Not the first term. This is the second term.

02:07So even in the first term, the moment Prime Minister Carney came in,

02:11the hostility levels between India and Canada significantly reduced.

02:14Now we have reports of intelligence sharing, but I had broken it away before.

02:18I was one of the few was saying that intelligence sharing has started

02:22and it started from the Canadian side, not from the Indian side.

02:25And these things are welcome.

02:27So overall, it's all good.

02:29I would, I would say it's all good and we should be happy about it.

02:33But there is always a caveat in Canada.

02:36The Khalistani influence over the body politic of Canada is significant

02:40and they will try to put pressure on the Canadian political class.

02:45But as of now, we should be happy.

02:48Going forward regarding the relationship, we have seen a slump in the relationship

02:54because of the Khalistanis, what they were trying to do.

02:58Your take, do you think it will move further and downplay the Khalistani angle

03:04in between the relationship of India and Canada according to you?

03:09Listen, I have never understood the Canadian love for Khalistan.

03:13I have never understood.

03:14It's not like they're going to, you know, if they're going to give,

03:17are they going to give a Khalistan in Canada?

03:19Then I understand.

03:20But the Canadian love for Khalistan has never been very clear for me.

03:24I, I, you go and talk to the average Canadian.

03:27They don't even know, right?

03:29They won't know.

03:30Now they just find the yellow flags irritating.

03:32That's what you will hear them saying, ah, what are these yellow flags doing over here?

03:36They don't even understand it.

03:37They've only started getting educated since it got connected to immigration.

03:41And, you know, it was a mix of that.

03:44As of now, it's very hard to say where and what and how of Khalistan should we expect

03:52as far as the Canadian perspective is concerned.

03:54Because Canadians always say it's a free speech issue.

03:57Well, if it's a free speech issue, why were the Canadian truckers not given that freedom?

04:01Right?

04:02Just day before yesterday or yesterday, you had people with Khalistan flags

04:06walking over the Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

04:09Now that would not be allowed to the Canadian trucker.

04:13If the Canadian truckers who were protesting would have tried that,

04:16they would have been thrown in jail.

04:17Their, their bank accounts would have been frozen.

04:19So it's not a free speech issue.

04:21Let's be very clear.

04:22This is not a free speech issue.

04:23This is selective freedom.

04:25It is a mix of geopolitics because they think it's a negotiating card on the table.

04:30As far as the Americans are concerned that we can negotiate a little bit with India.

04:34What they're negotiating, we don't know, but they think it is.

04:37And also it's a bit of, you have to look at it as the West looking at India as a soft state, as a small economy.

04:46And I think a lot of Western intelligence still carries that baggage.

04:50Because a lot of these people, just look at it.

04:53If you're a 65 year old, you've had a long career of 35 years.

04:57In that career, most of the time you are not supposed to take India seriously.

05:01Now, suddenly you have to take India seriously.

05:04So for that 65 year old, old habits die hard.

05:07So these are the dinosaurs that are controlling the Canadian foreign policy here.

05:12Now, the dinosaurs have to be told that this is a new India.

05:16It's the fourth largest economy in the world.

05:19Soon to be the third largest economy in the world.

05:21It's a military power.

05:24You cannot take it lightly, especially after Operation Sindur and what India has achieved in Operation Sindur.

05:29You have to take the, and it is the fastest growing economy in the world.

05:33Now, what does Canada have?

05:35Canada has rare earth minerals.

05:37Canada has oil and natural gas.

05:40What does India want?

05:41These three things.

05:42You would be monumentally stupid to spoil relations with India.

05:47Canada or India are actually the match made in heaven in terms of trade is concerned.

05:52In terms of value sharing is concerned.

05:54We have a giant diaspora here.

05:567% of the Canadian population is of Indian origin.

05:59If you add other communities, it's even more.

06:02But of Indian origin, it's 7%.

06:05Now, why would you antagonize?

06:07And the irony is that if you go out and you poll Indians in Canada, whether Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian,

06:15they're all fed up of the Khaliswanis.

06:18But the Canadian political class seems to love them.

06:21So, Harper was the aberration and now Kearney has come in as a surprise.

06:27Other than that, you look at Canadian history, they've always played footsie with this lot.

06:31And for some odd reason, I think it's a bit of a mistake from our end also.

06:36I think we've been poor as far as India is concerned in its communication strategy.

06:41That is my criticism of India.

06:43I think, and Indians get very touchy-feely when you criticize them, but you have to criticize them.

06:48I think it's been abysmal communication.

06:51The way to articulate points to a Western audience, to a Western political class has been lacking.

06:57And let's see how we go.

06:59I think we've done all the right moves over here.

07:02The Prime Minister coming over here for the G7.

07:04The joint statement issued on security concerns.

07:07Remember, the security concerns were not Canadian.

07:09They were Canada and India.

07:11So, that means that, what does it mean?

07:13India has only one security concern over here.

07:15It's the Khalistan issue.

07:16So, that means Canada has promised us and assured us we'll look at it together.

07:20RCMP's head said that India is cooperating.

07:23We're very happy about it.

07:25These are all the right signs.

07:26So, we are getting to hear what should have happened.

07:31And either now we have to conclude that Justin Trudeau and Jameet Singh were a nightmare.

07:36And we just have to forget the nightmare.

07:39But I'll still point out that never underestimate the Khalistanis.

07:43They have a very significant influence because of how they rigged the Canadian primaries.

07:49How the Canadian primaries are rigged.

07:51So, even when a candidate comes up, the probabilities of that candidate of Indian origin being a Khalistani are very high.

07:57That's why the Canadian political class tends to be very wary of these lot.

08:01Because they punch way above their weight.

08:03You have to give credit where it's due even if it's your adversary.

08:07And things will change soon.

08:10The last election was a very good sign where a lot of people voted against this issue in our community.

08:15I'm talking about the diaspora, right?

08:17I'm not talking about general Caucasian white people over here.

08:21But I'm talking about the diaspora, Canadian diaspora.

08:24They were fed up and there were a lot of voting on that issue.

08:27In fact, Pierre Paliaev's Diwali snafu actually cost him a lot of votes in and around Brampton, Mississauga, Surrey and all those areas.

08:40He did lose significant votes because he rubbed the entire diaspora the wrong way.

08:45But as of now, I think we have to see what we do post that.

08:52How do I say this?

08:53It's all good right now, but it's too good to be true is my state right now.

08:57So, let's wait for a few months.

08:58Let's see how the cookie crumbles.

09:00If it stays like this, you can expect actually Indo-Canadian trade and Indo-Canadian relations taking new heights.

09:06You talked about the foreign policy change.

09:08Like, do you believe there will be a shift in Canadian foreign policy?

09:14And will this regime take action against the Khalistani concerns, which we have placed over a period of time?

09:22I think the change in Canadian foreign policy has got to do with what's happening in America and what Trump is doing to them.

09:27A lot of it has to be said, given to that point also.

09:32Secondly, Carney is not a career politician.

09:36He's not.

09:38So, he does not carry that baggage.

09:40So, right now, he's not co-opted.

09:43So, let's wait and see how much time does it take for him to be co-opted by these elements.

09:48Or maybe he will not.

09:49He will prove everyone wrong.

09:50He's a banker.

09:51He likes trade.

09:52He likes to do business.

09:53He sees India as an opportunity.

09:55He sees America threatening him.

09:57So, that is what is happening on that bit.

10:01On the latter half of you meant...

10:06Sorry, what was...

10:07The Khalistanis...

10:08Will this regime take action against the Khalistanis?

10:11Yeah.

10:12So, the joint statement was we will be sharing security concerns.

10:16So, India has, I think, around 30 extradition requests approximately.

10:20I'm not giving you the exact number.

10:22I could pinpoint 26 for sure.

10:24One of them was Hardeep's signature.

10:26Down to 25 in that list.

10:28But other than that, there were other people who were there.

10:31So, if they extradite, that's when I would say things have happened.

10:37Until now, I don't see any movement in the extradition process.

10:41The Canadians keep coming up with excuses that, oh, Indians don't give us sufficient evidence.

10:45Well, you know, I don't know about Canadian vetting standards.

10:49Because, just last year, they let a Nazi inside their parliament.

10:53And he was vetted, by the way.

10:55So, it is what it is.

10:57But, I don't...

10:59I will believe it when I see it.

11:01As of now, my answer would be no.

11:02I don't think so.

11:03The extraditions will go on.

11:05I think that should be one of the things I expect the government of India to be making part of the trade deal negotiations.

11:12Extraditions have to be a non-negotiable.

11:14You do this, then we trade with you.

11:16Last of it will, of course, be on trade.

11:18FTA, India has been doing FTAs with multiple countries as well.

11:22There were talks about FTA with Canada, which was long due.

11:25But, do you think there will be a movement in trade and business aspect as well, according to you?

11:31There should be movement.

11:33But, it should not be without India's national security concerns being dealt with.

11:38My biggest worry is that India might be like,

11:41Karni ji kitne achche hain, unohne hume bulaya hai.

11:44And, then we just start trading with them.

11:47That would be my problem.

11:49My concern is that India falls for these, you know, cushy cushy words that come out of the Canadians' mouths.

11:56And, we don't see any tangible results.

11:59Until and unless at least five or six hardened criminals of Indian origin,

12:03that we've been demanding the Canadians to send us back,

12:06are not sent back to India.

12:07We should not sign any trade deal.

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