Let trade not suffer | Mint

On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally managed to leave for home after being stuck in New Delhi for longer than expected once the G20 summit ended because of a reported technical snag with his aircraft. While it’s the stock-in-trade of diplomacy to paint smiles on everything, he can hardly be expected to have had a pleasant visit. Observers detected one snub after another held in store for him by New Delhi over his administration’s refusal to act against Khalistani ideologues resident in Canada who advocate Punjab’s secession from India and are thought to get kid-gloved treatment on Canadian soil. Trudeau is known to have broadly cited free speech in defence of his country’s public policy. Yet, the Indian power establishment has been upset with the brazen frequency with which graffiti expressing anti-India sentiments tends to pop up in Canadian public spaces, sometimes as an open affront to the dignity of Indian missions overseas. It’s unfortunate that India-Canada ties have been moving downhill in recent times. Even the trade deal under negotiation between the two countries now seems to be in go-slow mode. That does neither any good.