Modi must talk Canada, UN reform, Khalistan, and Pakistan with Trump

President Donald Trump may pick repeated fights with Canada, but he and most Canadians have one thing in common: They really hate Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau is among the West’s leading hypocrites. His virtue signaling is empty. When he speaks of multiculturalism, he believes differences are limited to national garb or skin colour; he cannot conceive that different ideologies exist, religious identity is sincere, and that the values he embraces are outliers despised by most of the world. Trudeau’s brand of liberalism is merely the latest window-dressing for a 21st century “White Man’s Burden”.

Trudeau treats democracy with disdain and condescends to those who are not white. How else can anyone explain both his willingness to coddle and defend terrorists on his soil and his disdain for Hindus, Hinduism, and a strong India?

He twice accused India of complicity in the murder of a Sikh extremist and Khalistan terrorist who had entered Canada under false pretenses, alleging solid intelligence to back the accusation; even Canadian officials now acknowledge the intelligence shows no such thing. Given Khalistan extremists’ involvement in organised crime, Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder appears much more likely a gangland slaying than transnational repression.

Trudeau’s transformation of Canada into a hub for hate and a centre for money laundering, if not a terror sponsor itself, goes beyond simply Trudeau’s soft spot for Khalistanis. Jews are no longer safe in Toronto and Montreal because of Trudeau’s coddling and indulging Islamist radicals. Rather than make Canada a refuge for the repressed, Trudeau opens Canada’s asylum gateway for Pakistani Islamists who terrorise Ahmadis and other heterodox sects and Turkish extremists who stalk Kurds. While Trudeau sullies India, his Canada has become a haven for transnational repression.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Trump, many agenda items are obvious: Trade and the threat China poses to both countries. Modi might also try to sell Trump on embracing the India-Middle East Economic Corridor. After all, while Modi announced it under President Joe Biden, the scheme is a natural outgrowth of Trump’s Abraham Accords. The two leaders may also talk about the Quad. Given the poisonous—and well-deserved—attitude in Washington toward the United Nations, Modi might also whisper into Trump’s ear about possible reforms. Why should the United Kingdom, a power of the past, be a permanent member of the UN Security Council but not the world’s largest democracy? The answer should not be to expand the Security Council—doing so would only further UN paralysis—but rather be in the replacement of the United Kingdom by India.

Modi should go further, however. As Trudeau has politicised and weaponised the “Five Eyes” intelligence programme, Modi should demand Trump expel Canada, or at least suspend its participation until both Trudeau is gone and Canada excises the terror interests that have captured the heart of Ottawa.

He should also warn Trump about the danger of the Canada path. Just as Nijjar abused the Canadian immigration system, many Sikh extremists do likewise in the United States. They make false claims of persecution, establish themselves in California, and then act as anchors for militant relatives. Once they have US passports, they return to India for business and coordination. Many also visit Pakistan, where they liaise with the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

Khalistan militants have attacked the Indian consulate in San Francisco without consequence. San Francisco is not Tehran; Governor Gavin Newsom may not care, but Trump should. Many Khalistani extremists coordinate with ISI, while some self-described Sikh umbrella groups cover for extremism much like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) does with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Trump must direct the Justice Department and Treasury Department to investigate Khalistani militants and finances in America to stop the United States from replicating the mistakes of Canada.

No group with ideologies antithetical to democracy and security should perpetrate its hate and terror support from within the United States. If the FBI would not allow Hamas or Hezbollah cells to operate in America, it should not tolerate Khalistani groups either. And if it prosecutes those funding Palestinian or Iranian terrorism on American soil, it should do the same with American citizens who embrace terror against India.

Conventional wisdom and diplomatic norms do not constrain Trump. Modi should seize full advantage to cement a partnership that could well define the 21st century.

Michael Rubin is director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.