NEW DELHI (AP) \u2014 The Group of 20 Summit, hosted by India earlier this month, couldn\u2019t have gone better for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His pledge to make the African Union a permanent member became reality. And under his leadership, the fractured grouping\u00a0signed off on a final statement. It was seen as a foreign policy triumph for Modi and set the tone for India as a great emerging power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was expected to seize on India\u2019s geopolitical high in his speech at the United Nations on Tuesday. But circumstances have changed \u2014 quite abruptly \u2014 and India comes to the General Assembly podium with a diplomatic mess on its hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, Canadian leader Justin Trudeau made a\u00a0shocking claim: India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh Canadian citizen in a Vancouver suburb in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW DELHI (AP) \u2014 The Group of 20 Summit, hosted by India earlier this month, couldn\u2019t have gone better for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His pledge to make the African Union a permanent member became reality. And under his leadership, the fractured grouping\u00a0signed off on a final statement. It was seen as a foreign policy triumph for Modi and set the tone for India as a great emerging power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was expected to seize on India\u2019s geopolitical high in his speech at the United Nations on Tuesday. But circumstances have changed \u2014 quite abruptly \u2014 and India comes to the General Assembly podium with a diplomatic mess on its hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, Canadian leader Justin Trudeau made a\u00a0shocking claim: India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh Canadian citizen in a Vancouver suburb in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW DELHI (AP) \u2014 The Group of 20 Summit, hosted by India earlier this month, couldn\u2019t have gone better for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His pledge to make the African Union a permanent member became reality. And under his leadership, the fractured grouping\u00a0signed off on a final statement. It was seen as a foreign policy triumph for Modi and set the tone for India as a great emerging power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was expected to seize on India\u2019s geopolitical high in his speech at the United Nations on Tuesday. But circumstances have changed \u2014 quite abruptly \u2014 and India comes to the General Assembly podium with a diplomatic mess on its hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, Canadian leader Justin Trudeau made a\u00a0shocking claim: India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh Canadian citizen in a Vancouver suburb in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the last day of the G20 summit, Trudeau posed and smiled with Modi as world leaders paid respects at Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s memorial. Behind the scenes though, tensions were high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trudeau skipped an official dinner hosted by the Indian president, and local media reported he was snubbed by Modi when he got a quick \u201cpull aside\u201d instead of a bilateral meeting. To make things worse, a flight snag saw him stranded in New Delhi for 36 hours. Finally back in Canada, Trudeau said he had raised the allegations with Modi at the G20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As India heads to the United Nations, the allegations have \u201cthrown cold water on India\u2019s G20 achievements,\u201d said Happymon Jacob, founder of the New Delhi-based Council for Strategic and Defense Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India has long sought greater recognition at the United Nations. For decades, it has eyed a permanent seat at the Security Council, one of the world\u2019s most prestigious high tables. But it has also been critical of the global forum, partly because it wants more representation that\u2019s in line with its rising soft power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe U.N. Security Council, which is the core of the United Nations system, is a family photo of the victors of the Second World War plus China,\u201d Jacob said. India believes \u201cit simply does not reflect the demographic, economic and geopolitical realities of today,\u201d he added. Others in the elite group include France, Russia, Britain and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April, Jaishankar said India, the world\u2019s most populous country with the fastest growing economy among major nations, couldn\u2019t be ignored for too long. The U.N. Security Council, he said, \u201cwill be compelled to provide permanent membership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trudeau skipped an official dinner hosted by the Indian president, and local media reported he was snubbed by Modi when he got a quick \u201cpull aside\u201d instead of a bilateral meeting. To make things worse, a flight snag saw him stranded in New Delhi for 36 hours. Finally back in Canada, Trudeau said he had raised the allegations with Modi at the G20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As India heads to the United Nations, the allegations have \u201cthrown cold water on India\u2019s G20 achievements,\u201d said Happymon Jacob, founder of the New Delhi-based Council for Strategic and Defense Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India has long sought greater recognition at the United Nations. For decades, it has eyed a permanent seat at the Security Council, one of the world\u2019s most prestigious high tables. But it has also been critical of the global forum, partly because it wants more representation that\u2019s in line with its rising soft power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe U.N. Security Council, which is the core of the United Nations system, is a family photo of the victors of the Second World War plus China,\u201d Jacob said. India believes \u201cit simply does not reflect the demographic, economic and geopolitical realities of today,\u201d he added. Others in the elite group include France, Russia, Britain and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April, Jaishankar said India, the world\u2019s most populous country with the fastest growing economy among major nations, couldn\u2019t be ignored for too long. The U.N. Security Council, he said, \u201cwill be compelled to provide permanent membership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States, Britain and\u00a0India\u2019s Cold War-era ally Russia\u00a0have voiced support for its permanent membership over the years. But U.N. bureaucracy has stopped the council from expanding. And even if that changes, China \u2014\u00a0India\u2019s neighbor and regional rival\u00a0\u2014 would likely block a request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kept out of the U.N.\u2019s most important body, Modi has made sure that his country is smack at the center of a tangled web of global politics. On one hand, New Delhi is part of the Quad and the G20, seen as mostly Western groups. On the other, it wants to expand its influence in the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where Russia and China dominate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deft juggling of the West and the rest has come to define India\u2019s multipolar foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its diplomatic sway has only grown over its reluctance to condemn Russia for its war in Ukraine, a stance that resonated among many developing countries that have also been neutral. And the West, which sees an ascendant India as crucial to countering China, has\u00a0stepped up ties with Modi. By doing so,\u00a0it looks past concerns\u00a0of democratic backsliding under his government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the immediate aftermath,\u00a0the first reaction from Canada\u2019s Western allies\u00a0\u2014 including its biggest one, the United States \u2014 was tepid. But as the row deepens, the question likely worrying Indian officials is this: Will the recent international fiasco jeopardize its surging ties with the West?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After an initial muted response, the White House has intensified its concerns. \u201cThere\u2019s not some special exemption you get for actions like this, regardless of the country,\u201d security adviser Jake Sullivan said. On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. was deeply concerned about the allegations and that \u201cit would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there\u2019s been no public evidence, a\u00a0Canadian official told The Associated Press\u00a0that the allegation of India\u2019s involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist, is based on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada \u2014 including intelligence provided by a major ally. On Friday,\u00a0the U.S. ambassador to Canada confirmed this, saying information shared by the intelligence-sharing \u2018Five Eyes\u2019 alliance helped link India to the assassination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the United Nations, where he held a news conference and meetings but will not be speaking for his nation on Tuesday, Trudeau told reporters that he doesn\u2019t want to cause problems but said his decision was not made lightly. Canada, he said, had to stand up for the rule of law and protect its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For New Delhi, the U.N. meeting may present a possible opportunity. Indian and Canadian diplomats could meet on the sidelines to try to lower temperatures with a potential assist from Washington, Kugelman said. Canada\u2019s delegation chair, Robert Rae, is delivering the country\u2019s remarks 10 spots after India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jaishankar could also hold face-to-face meetings with other key partners to minimize the damage. Since arriving, he\u2019s held chats with ministers from Australia, Japan and Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: We\u2019re not going to see foreign leaders avoid or isolate Jaishankar at the U.N. General Assembly,\u201d Kugelman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it could also lead to more fireworks if they bring the spat to the U.N. podium and the global audience of leaders it tends to command. Ultimately, though, India \u201cdoesn\u2019t want the Canada row to be a sideshow here, and especially not one that moves to the center stage,\u201d Kugelman said. \u201cThat would take attention away from the achievements it hopes to publicize on one of the world\u2019s biggest global platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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