Stating that Justin Trudeau’s allegations have led to “greater
danger” for Canada than India, former Pentagon official Michael Rubin said if United
States has to choose between Ottawa and New Delhi, it will surely choose the
latter as the relationship is “too important”.
He said India is far more important strategically than Canada is
and Ottawa picking up a fight with India is like “an ant picking up a fight
against an elephant”.
While referring to the poor approval ratings of Justin Trudeau,
Rubin added he is not long for the premiership, and US can rebuild the
relationship after he is gone.
“I suspect that United States doesn’t want to be painted a corner
to choose between two friends. But if we have to choose between two friends,
increasingly we’re going to choose India on this matter, simply because Nijjar
was a terrorist, and India is too important. Our relationship is too important,”
said Michael Rubin.
“Justin Trudeau probably isn’t long for the Canadian premiership,
and then we can rebuild the relationship after he’s gone,” he added.
Michael Rubin is a former Pentagon official and senior fellow at
the American Enterprise Institute Specialisation in Iran, Turkey, and South
Asia.
Responding to the possibility of whether US will publicly intervene
in the matter, Rubin said, “Frankly, there’s a much greater danger for Canada
than India. If Canada wants to pick a fight, frankly, at this point, it’s like
an ant picking a fight against an elephant and the fact that matter is India is
the world’s largest democracy. It’s far more important strategically, arguably
than Canada is, especially as concern grows with regard to China and other
matters in the Indian Ocean basin, and in the Pacific.”
The India-Canada ties soured further after Canadian PM Justin
Trudeau alleged India’s role behind the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep
Singh Nijjar. This was followed by both countries expelling a senior diplomat
in a tit-for-tat move.
However, India has out-rightly denied such allegations calling them
“absurd” and “motivated”.
Notably, the Canadian PM has failed to present any evidence to back
his claims. Trudeau was repeatedly quizzed on the nature of the allegations but
stuck to reiterating that there were “credible reasons” to believe that India
was linked to the death of Nijjar.
The former Pentagon official further slammed Trudeau and said Hardeep
Singh Nijjar — a separatist terrorist allegedly killed by his erstwhile
comrades — is not a model to use for “human rights” and he was a terrorist
involved in multiple attacks.
“Justin Trudeau might want to make this a case of human rights. The
fact of that matter is, that Nijjar isn’t a model one wants to use for human
rights. Nijjar may have been involved in the assassination of a rival Sikh
leader, just a year ago. At the same time, he has blood on his hands through
multiple attacks. He entered Canada with a fraudulent passport. And the fact of
the matter is this is no Mother Teresa, we are talking about.
Rubin added that many of the US security community and even from
Canadian security understand that Trudeau has gone “too far”.
On being asked if Trudeau converted a domestic political obstacle
into a foreign policy issue, the former Pentagon official said Trudeau was very
“short-sighted” and was acting only as a “politician”.
“Yes, I absolutely do think that that is the case. Justin Trudeau
was playing domestic Canadian politics because as he struggles in his
re-election campaign, many Sikh activists are in crucial swing districts. But
again, this isn’t something unique to Canada… I think Justin Trudeau was acting
as a politician. He was very short-sighted, and no one should trade their
short-term political convenience for the long-term relationship with the world’s
largest democracy,” he added.
ANI
