He added that India is afraid that these teams are making a comeback from their “protected haven” in Canada and different Western international locations, the place they may doubtlessly have been orchestrating an rebellion unhindered.
“India is claiming that this might, in the end, pose one other main violent risk to India,” Kugelman advised CNA’s Asia First.
“Canada seems to be at this very in another way. It would not consider that it is sheltering anti-India extremists. It believes … that these are Sikh separatists who’re activists, and what they do and say is protected by freedom of speech legal guidelines in Canada.”
How does it contain a problem of proof?
One other challenge on the coronary heart of the deepening tensions is one in every of proof to assist Canada’s public allegations.
Whereas Canada has made a number of allegations publicly, it has not offered the mandatory proof to again them up, pointing to how doing so may undermine the integrity investigations, mentioned Kugelman.
“However the extra allegations it places on the market within the public eye, the extra strain (there may be) on Canada to come back out with some very particular proof,” he mentioned.
Ruparelia mentioned the disconnect may very well be in what counts as proof.
“It may merely be that … (the) proof, for the Indian authorities, hasn’t met a threshold that they are pleased with or snug with,” he mentioned.
He added that for Canada, the answer is that India cooperates with its investigation and appears into it. For India, the demand is for Canada to share proof in a means that it deems adequate to set off motion. “That is the deadlock proper now,” he mentioned.
