Anand says Khalistan issue not discussed during India visit

When Canada’s new Foreign Affairs Minister, Anita Anand, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India last week, the biggest takeaway wasn’t what they discussed, but what they deliberately avoided.

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When Canada’s new Foreign Affairs Minister, Anita Anand, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India last week, the biggest takeaway wasn’t what they discussed, but what they deliberately avoided: Khalistan.

During a CPAC news conference, a reporter asked Anand if an ongoing referendum — taking place mainly in Canada, Australia and New Zealand — proposing to carve an independent state out of India known as “Khalistan” was brought up during her time in India.

“That issue was not raised specifically with me,” Anand said. “I’d rather focus on the points I made, as I’m acting on Canada’s best interests here in India.”

In a separate interview with CBC, however, Anand said she had discussed “transnational repression” and “outlawing the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.”

It remains unclear how such a conversation could have taken place without mentioning Khalistan given her previous boss’s remarks in the House of Commons on the Indian government’s alleged involvement in what then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called an “extrajudicial killing” of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Reporting around the time of Trudeau’s comments by CBC and senior foreign correspondent Evan Dyer previously had drawn a link between Nijjar’s murder, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and elements within the Modi government — making the absence of a discussion on Khalistan all the more perplexing.

Anand’s comments on Khalistan, or lack thereof, mark a notable shift from former Prime Minister Trudeau’s approach.

Trudeau has historically championed the Khalistan issue as reflecting Canada’s dedication to free expression, human rights and support for the Sikh diaspora.

At a fall 2023 press conference in New Delhi, for example, when responding to India’s concerns over the Khalistani secessionist movement, Trudeau said Canada will always defend “freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and peaceful protest.”

Various members of the previous Liberal government — some of whom were re-elected under new Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney — have also frequently raised concerns about Khalistani separatist movements and alleged extrajudicial actions by the Indian government.

Liberal MP Randeep Sarai, who represents Surrey Centre and was re-elected under the new Carney government, said in 2024: “The allegations brought forth by the RCMP concerning foreign interference from India is not just a Sikh or Hindu issue, it’s a Canadian issue.”

“It’s time for all Canadians, from the leadership of this country down to our citizens, to put politics aside and stand united,” Sarai continued in an X post from October of last year.

Around the same time, similar comments were made on X by fellow Liberal Surrey MP Sukh Dhaliwal, who called Nijjar’s killing an “unacceptable violation of Canada’s sovereignty.”

In response to Anand’s most recent India excursion, Dhaliwal praised Anand for fostering a “renewed roadmap” to an improved diplomatic relationship between India and Canada.

However, Dhaliwal also warned that “Canada must stay firm in protecting our sovereignty and democracy and remain vigilant and resolute in defending the rights and safety of all Canadians.”

Sarai, meanwhile, has yet to offer any public comment on Anand’s meeting with the Modi government or her trip to India.