"Canada-India have to work together": Former envoy Sanjay Verma calls for diplomatic pragmatism as ties normalise

Highlighting the path forward for the bilateral relationship, he stated that the current shift represents a transition towards a more functional partnership.

In an interview with ANI, Verma reflected on the evolution of the relationship following a period of intense strain. He noted that the realisation of mutual dependency is now guiding the two countries, stating, "I wouldn't go ahead and call it vindication, but I would say it is diplomatic pragmatism. Because, finally, the realisation is that Canada-India have to work together. There is no other option. And when we work together, there will be issues where we'll fight. There will be issues on which we see convergences. So those issues on which we see convergences, let's move ahead on that. Those issues where we see a lack of unison of our voices, let's discuss, let's talk about it across the table. But let's not call names to each other."

The former envoy addressed the recent findings by Canadian law enforcement regarding allegations of transnational repression. He explained that the RCMP has now distinguished between the legal proceedings regarding the death of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and broader claims of state-sponsored interference.

Verma noted, "He has kept it in two different buckets. One bucket is the Khalistani terrorist who was killed there, and another bucket is transnational repression and transnational crimes. So these are two buckets. When you look at the first bucket, the court case is already on. Charges have been filed against four Indian nationals. These four Indian nationals went to Canada as international students. God knows what happened in society, and they became whatever they have been alleged to have become. Their trial is on."

Regarding the second category, Verma expressed satisfaction that the narrative of Indian state involvement has not been substantiated. "Now the second bucket is India's overall engagement in Canada. And initially, if you recall, when I was still serving in Ottawa, a lot of noise was there on India's role in transnational repression as well as transnational crimes in Canada, which I always said is not India's policy to interfere in the internal affairs of any other country. Unfortunately, this was not accepted by the regime at that particular point in time. But I am very glad to see the statement which came out, and what he said was that right now he doesn't see any link with any foreign entity, which includes India, I'm sure, any foreign entity having links with transnational crimes and transnational repression in Canada," he told ANI.

Verma criticised the handling of the situation by the previous Canadian administration under Justin Trudeau, suggesting the allegations were rooted in domestic interests. "We always maintained that. If you recall, both from New Delhi and from Ottawa, the Indian interests and the Indian representation always talked about this. We always said that this is politically motivated. We always said that this is vote-bank politics. We always said that there is no evidence available to say so. And we are glad that this is coming true. And finally, they will see India for what it is, a deep civilisation and India which doesn't interfere with any other country's internal affairs," he remarked.

The diplomat further questioned the lack of formal legal action if "credible" evidence truly existed. Dissecting the previous administration's claims, he said, "So let's try to sort of dissect that. And if we say credible allegations, it was still not evidence. But, due to some reason, the then Prime Minister thought it appropriate to state that in their own Parliament. I did not consider it well thought of on his part. But then moving ahead, even RCMP in October 2024 said that they have credible evidence linking transnational repression and crime with Indian agents and proxies. Now even that has failed. Now my only question to those who had levelled these charges is: if there was such clinching evidence, why have the charges not been filed so far? So I look at it both from the logical point of view as well as from the international law point of view."

Attributing the diplomatic fallout to poor counsel and political timing, Verma stated, "I would say he was ill-advised. The timing was of his choosing, but he was ill-advised to put a very strong bilateral relationship on hold and move ahead with his political motives."

He added that, as the leader at the time, the responsibility lay with the former Prime Minister: "See, he was the Prime Minister of the country at that point in time. He was the one who spoke about it in Parliament. So I don't have inside information, but since he was the Prime Minister of the country at that point in time, everything will fall on him and I mean that's the end of the tunnel."

Addressing the impact of the rift, Verma noted that the relationship had been "hugely" affected, resulting in lost time and emotional damage. "See, this episode had two major impacts. One on the bilateral relationship itself, because everything was put on hold. Downsizing of mission, EPTA put on hold, early progress trade agreement put on hold. No high-level visits taking place. So the bilateral relationship was put on hold in a sense. So we lost two years," he said.

He further lamented the personal toll on Indian diplomats: "Second part is it has created so much emotion amongst the two peoples. So Canadians thought that we six who have been declared as persona non grata are actually criminals. We are not diplomats. Now that damage to our reputation, that damage to our emotional fabric, who is going to mend that?"

Despite these challenges, Verma voiced optimism following the recent visit of Prime Minister Mark Carney to India. He noted, "Thankfully, the present Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Carney, has been able to see through it. And what he has done is he has not taken off the case from the court, which is going on. So that is still there. But he has moved ahead with other relationships with India, and he had a very successful visit to India, as I see." (ANI)