00:00 India and Canada are certainly not happy with each other.
00:16 The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned on Tuesday.
00:21 They were informed of the Government of India's decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat
00:25 based in India.
00:27 This was a reciprocal move from India's end over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's
00:32 charge that it played a role in the June killing of a Khalistani terrorist.
00:37 Earlier, Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat and accused India's hand behind the fatal
00:42 shooting of the Khalistani leader.
00:45 Now the concerned Canadian diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five
00:50 days.
00:51 Trudeau said that his government had credible allegations linking Hardeep Singh Nijjar's
00:56 killing with the agents of the Government of India.
01:00 The Indian government rejected the allegation as absurd and motivated.
01:05 The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by
01:10 establishing an ethno-religious sovereign state called Khalistan and this movement is
01:16 very strong in Canada.
01:18 Canada has been among the favoured hubs of expat Sikhs.
01:21 The past few months saw multiple Khalistani activities in Canada including protests outside
01:27 the Indian embassy and threat posters for Indian diplomats.
01:31 This has caused much friction between the two nations.
01:35 Canada has even postponed a trade mission to India which was planned for October.
01:41 Amid the turmoil, the question arises that why Justin Trudeau refuses to strongly condemn
01:46 Khalistani activities in Canada?
01:49 Is it because the country is somewhat dependent on the Sikhs?
01:53 Sikhism in Canada has nearly 800,000 adherents who account for 2.1% of Canadian population
01:59 as of 2021 forming the country's fastest growing and fourth largest religious group.
02:06 The largest Sikh populations in Canada are found in Ontario followed by British Columbia
02:10 and Alberta.
02:11 Canada is the home to the largest national Sikh proportion in the world and also has
02:16 the second largest Sikh population in the world after India.
02:20 Needless to say a growing percentage of Sikhs contribute to Canada's economic growth in
02:25 some or the other form.
02:27 Canada's economy unexpectedly contracted in the second quarter at an annualised rate
02:32 of 0.2% and growth was most likely flat in July.
02:37 This result shows the probability of a recession in the coming months.
02:41 Also, rising inflation and historically high interest rates have triggered falling housing
02:46 investment.
02:47 The most impacted sector due to the economic crisis will be the employment sector.
02:51 While 2023 has been the year where large multinationals have cut millions of jobs, the most impacted
02:58 by job cuts are usually migrants or people who are on temporary visas.
03:04 The diplomatic strains between India and Canada are now threatening trade ties.
03:08 Talks on a proposed trade deal are now postponed.
03:11 Canada has given very few details for the impasse while India has cited certain political
03:15 developments as the reason behind the postponement.
03:19 According to Statistic Canada, bilateral trade in 2022 amounted to just $13.7 billion out
03:26 of Canada's total of $1.52 trillion.
03:31 In conclusion, 2023 has seen widespread declines in more than half of industries contributing
03:37 to the same GDP and if employment sees a further drop, it will likely be called a recession
03:42 in Canada.
03:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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