Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has expressed deep disappointment over the strained ties between Canada and India, attributing the deterioration to growing influence from Khalistan separatists within the Liberal Party.
Speaking at the NXT Conclave in New Delhi on 28 February, Harper said he was “heartbroken” by the worsening relations and suggested that pro-Khalistan activists had infiltrated Canada’s governing party.
“Frankly, I have been heartbroken to watch the steady deterioration of this relationship under my successor. I don’t think I entirely understand why that is,” Harper remarked at the conference, where his comments were later posted online.
Relations between Ottawa and New Delhi have been in a deep freeze since late 2023, when then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged without proof that Indian agents were linked to the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
The baseless accusations led to diplomatic expulsions and heightened tensions, with India denying any involvement and accusing Canada of harbouring extremists advocating for Khalistan.
While Harper did not weigh in on the specific allegations, he criticised Canada’s handling of the issue, arguing that the Trudeau government had prioritised ties with a “fringe minority” over broader India-Canada relations.
“In Canada, you have a right to be a Khalistani. It’s a democratic opinion,” Harper said.
“But it should not be infiltrating our governing party, and it should not be inhibiting good people-to-people relations between India and Canada.”
Harper, who has maintained close ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, emphasised the importance of people-to-people connections between the two nations. He credited Modi’s government for not disrupting these ties despite the current diplomatic tensions.
“It is about time that all political parties and politicians in Canada made building those people-to-people ties the priority – and not the priority of building relations with Khalistanis.”
In 2019, after receiving an award from the Canada India Foundation, Harper had also emphasised his government’s policy of rejecting ties with Khalistan supporters and others seeking to import past conflicts to Canada, calling for this stance to continue.
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