Far from me to gain mileage over the misfortune of unlucky men .. but the Canadian PM must be worried about his friends in Asia and the inhumane treatment they mete out to Canadian citizens, than about internal affairs of India https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-michael-spavors-wish-list-documents-show-how-canadians-detained-in/

It is a point to be noted. Canada has been on a diplomatic tiff with China since 2018 .. China held these two men since then till June 2020 without a chargesheet.

And yet, the current govt thought it prudent to invite China for a joint military exercise in 2019.

What is the hold of China over the current Canadian govt, we would never know.

It could simply be a matter of a Small large country (for a surface area just larger than that of USA, Canada has 10% of population) trying to mature diplomatically. In a sense, makes sense.

US-Canada hyphenation has been a matter of quite the consternation with Canadians. They don't like the fact that in any debate, USA becomes de facto the bigger brother. Family collars do get tight.

So, it could well be an act of rebellion by a younger sibling.

However in an interesting turn of events, Foreign policy in Canada has become an extension of internal politics.

(This is not unheard of. India's FP has always suffered from this malady. Until recently, that is. If so, this is sheer immaturity). Reasons follow.

The likes and dislikes of a population should not decide near term foreign policy of a state. The state should have enough sagacity to separate and insulate its foreign dealings from domestic pressures. Not always easy, but not impossible either. But, it needs professionals.

What has transpired in Canada in the past few years, is a wish to topple the US as the global policy maker. Ambitions are good. However, reality always prevails.

Irrespective of what goes around, US still is the largest economy and they have an almost filial relation with Can.

A wiser FP directive would have walked the walk and talked the talk. It doesn't matter who rules the USA, Canada should have looked after its own priorities and benefits.

Instead of dehypenating itself from the US, it embroiled itself more into US politics. Never good.

In a bout of almost juvenile virtue signaling, Canadian govt tied its relationship with the USA to the latter's president. Never mind that Canada didn't have skin in that game.

This isn't the only such gaffe. Repeatedly Canada has interfered in the internal politics of India.

During the Jamal Khashoggi killing, JT had demanded action from Saudi Arabia; and in 2019, had asked China to care about the human rights of Uighurs.

Recently (leaving out his gaffe on India), he had also tried to mediate in the issue of Turkey - Azerbaijan - Armenia conflict.

There is a pattern.

JT is trying to become the hero and Savior of the oppressed in the world. Good ambition. But bad preparation.

Except we have not seen him talk about Pakistan or their HR abuses. Second, his tone with China has always been reverential.

It puts a damper on++

++ his attempts to project himself as the Savior when he can't gather the courage to criticize the worst genocidal country in today's world.

Leaving aside him as a person: there is widespread support for his stances. Some of it is conditional. His periodic outrage against India+

++ must be seen through the lens of vote bloc pressures. JT is running a govt supported by NDP, which is a far left party .. and their vote bank consists chiefly of Pakistanis and Khalistanis. So, JT owes his power as PM to these groups.

There is another group supports him for +

+ his projected image of being the Human Rights champion. Many of them are ill informed about complexities of nation states and societies & hence are easily swayed by rhetorical arguments. Anything that hurts a finely tuned sensitivity for political correctness, is frowned upon.

A combination of these two vote blocs meant that JT had to antagonize USA despite having no skin in the game. It also meant that JT has to finger India even when it means it would spoil Canada's relations with India.

In a sense, a good portion of the society is gripped by ++

++ a saviour complex. And they project their righteousness onto their leader. A leader who is childish enough to erase lines between internal politics and foreign relations.

Personally, they are very sweet people. Nice people. But, they aren't well informed.

What is utterly bewildering in all of this circus (am being kind), is that there are no sane voices in the diplomatic corps that even attempt to curtail this over enthusiasm.

People have to realize that times change. When they do, realities change. It is job of professionals to+

+ distil this message and give it to the masses. "Focus on what you gain or lose; everyone deals with their problems" must be the message.

Especially with Canada inviting people from developing countries, it should now start treading the path of maturity.

One always hopes./Fin