Focus on Nijjar investigation, rather than on resuming trade talks with India: Canada

Toronto The Canadian government is focused on getting India to cooperate in the investigation into the killing of Khalistani figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar rather than on resuming trade talks, a senior Minister has indicated.

Speaking to the media on the margins of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meet in San Francisco, Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng said, “Right now, the focus for Canada is to let the work of the investigation proceed,” according to the outlet CBC News.

Ng, when asked whether trade talks could resume, responded, “You’ve heard me and the government talk about how important it is that investigation happens given that we had a Canadian killed on Canadian soil. So, we’ll let that happen.”

While she would not directly connect cooperation in the investigation and the talks, she said, “”Our focus is, of course, on this investigation, that work has to take place.”

Talks towards an Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) were “paused” by Canada, prior to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stating in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of Nijjar on June 18 in Surrey, British Columbia.

A Team Canada Trade Mission to India, scheduled for October and led by Ng, was also called off.

On Friday, during a media interaction in Toronto, India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma had said that “whenever there is a decision to unpause” by Canada, it would “take only a couple of months to reach the conclusion” of the EPTA negotiations. There were ten rounds of talks before the pause. Verma had said he could not predict any timeline for resumption of the dialogue. The EPTA was meant to be an interim deal towards the goal of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Those active in the India-Canada business corridor have been sceptical that talks will resume any time soon. At the Friday media event, Victor Thomas, president and CEO of the Canada-India Business Council said he has communicated that sense to the chamber’s members. “Given everything that’s going on, I don’t foresee any significant trade talks happening imminently,” he said.

Trudeau’s statement cratered relations between India and Canada. Both countries expelled a diplomat each in the immediate aftermath, and India suspended processing of visas for Canadian nationals and only resumed the process in four categories on October 25. India also sought “parity” in diplomatic presence with Canada leading to 41 Canadian diplomats leaving India in October, which was described by Ottawa as “mass expulsion”.

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