G20 Summit: Amid speculations over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's participation in the virtual G20 Leaders' Summit, the Canadian Foreign Ministry has confirmed his attendance at the crucial summit. This major development came amidst diplomatic tensions between India and Canada following Trudeau's "absurd and baseless" allegations against New Delhi. Notably, India is currently holding the presidency of the G20 and a virtual Leaders' summit of the same is scheduled for today (November 22).
Although it is not clear whether the leaders would discuss Canada's claim which said, "New Delhi was behind the killing of a Khalistani terrorist who was also a Sikh Canadian citizen in a Vancouver suburb in June, it was obvious the repercussions could be felt during the much-touted event.
Why India and Canada are at loggerheads?
The "cold war" between the Indian leader and Trudeau was witnessed at the time when the Canadian Prime Minister had attended the G20 Summit in person in September.
There were conflicting media reports which claimed PM Modi had affronted his Canadian counterpart about the expansion of the Khalistani movement on his soil and soaring threats to Indian diplomats. However, the Ministry of External Affairs did not reveal the exact experts of what the leaders had discussed when they held a meeting.
On the last day of the G20 summit, Trudeau posed and smiled with PM Modi as world leaders paid respects at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, however, behind the scenes though, tensions were high. The Canadian Prime Minister skipped an official dinner hosted by the Indian president, and multiple media reported he was snubbed by PM Modi when he got a quick “pull-aside” instead of a bilateral meeting. To make things worse, a flight snag saw him stranded in New Delhi for 36 hours. Finally, back in Canada, Trudeau said he had raised the allegations with PM Modi at the G20.
"Cold War between India and Canada"
Subsequently, Trudeau, shocked New Delhi after he claimed India was behind the killing of Nijjar-- a claim that India rejected outrightly and dubbed the allegations both baseless and "absurd".
However, the claim turned into a major political rift after Trudeau involved the United Nations, Australia and the UK in calling India to cooperate in the investigation.
However, India, on multiple occasions, asked Canadian officials to provide them proof to back their claims, but as of now, the MEA said it hasn't received any. But, India expelled 41 Canadian diplomats from New Delhi in order to make a "balance" in the embassy.
Since then, there have been reports that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly held multiple meetings but no breakthrough has been announced yet.
