On the one hand, it wants to show support for India and its concerns about territorial integrity. Pressure was building to stabilize relations between Canada and India, according to a Feb. 13, 2018, briefing note prepared for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland days before her official visit. Under “Top Line Messages,” Freeland was encouraged to tell Doval that “Canada takes Sikh extremism seriously and respects India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” There were additional bullet points about how Canada was being responsive to “Sikh Terrorism,” but they were redacted. The decision, however, to scrub the term from the report has led to accusations that Canada too easily succumbed to pressure from the Sikh community. The Hindustan Times reported last month that Indian officials were “aghast at the perceived capitulation to pressure.”Canada’s attempts to placate India over its security concerns didn’t stop with Freeland.

Source: National Post May 12, 2019 19:18 UTC