“We’re not so different, you and I. We’ve both spent our lives finding weaknesses in each other’s systems. Don’t you think it’s time to recognize that there’s just as little value on your side As much as I have?
Those who are supporting Gary Oldman, who played Jackson Lamb, the no-nonsense boss of British intelligence agency MI5, at Apple. slow horsesYou might also remember this line that the actor said while playing another spy boss in another spy thriller: as George Smiley tinker tailor soldier spy, 2011 film based on the book by John La Carre.
This line, addressed to Smiley’s Russian counterpart, Karla, epitomizes the film’s politics, being equally celebrated and condemned for drawing an analogy between the US and the USSR during the Cold War. Based on recent media stories and diplomatic activities, George Smiley could very well have the same to say about India and Canada today.
hot shock, cold shock
New Delhi and Ottawa have expelled each other’s top diplomats following the Canadian Prime Minister’s latest allegation of direct involvement of the Indian establishment in the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil. On the other hand, India has not only denied this but also hit back at Canada for promoting anti-India groups in its territory.
Autumn is not a good season for India-Canada relations. Exactly a year ago, both the countries were embroiled in a similar diplomatic acrimony over the same murder. After nuclear proliferation, Khalistan has been troubling them for many decades. With the exception of peace during the beginning of the millennium, the issue remains alive and volatile. It’s not going anywhere in a hurry.
Canada’s soft stance towards anti-India organizations was once attributed entirely to its domestic politics: the country is home to the largest Sikh diaspora, about 770,000 of whom live there. However, the current tension in the relationship may not just be about Canada’s vote bank politics or India’s internal affairs involving resistance from a sect of Sikhs. Now clearly bilateral opposition is emerging. Are matchmaking workers doing their job well? Or, more provocatively, are spies doing their job?
Flashback from 1975
Realistically speaking, assassinations on foreign soil are not a no-go zone, even with declared enemies, if the killers are clever. The morality and legality of such actions is a different story. So then, what has forced Canada, a limited ally, to make public its investigation into the Nijjar murder case and hold India responsible? Has there been a slight or a breach of trust, intentional or otherwise, behind the scenes of the public show that is to be organised? Are there unscrupulous actors at work on both sides, or is this sheer incompetence? It can be either or both, but as the respected Canadian author Margaret Atwood reminds us, “Stupidity is the same as evil if you make decisions based on consequences”. Therefore, it is the breakdown of bilateral relations that matters more than the specifics of its cause.
This increase in diplomatic tensions between India and Canada resembles another controversial diplomatic incident that occurred half a century ago: the breakdown of then-newly formed Australia-North Korea relations. On October 30, 1975, Pyongyang recalled its diplomats from Canberra, citing the host country’s ‘unfriendly attitude’ and ‘unbearable provocative acts’ in communications sent through commercial mail. Less than ten days later, Australian diplomats were expelled from Pyongyang on 8 November due to ‘unfriendly behaviour’ and ‘abuse of diplomatic immunity’.
The actors and times are different, but the problem is the same. The inability to overcome repeated difficulties reflects poorly on the political and diplomatic leaders of India and Canada. What is the value of long bilateral relations if they cannot cope with such incidents? Both Ottawa and New Delhi are engaged in a game of provocation and appeasement. The classic blow-hot, blow-cold approach. However, to what end?
a lesson from bridge of spies
Coming back to the wisdom of George Smiley, looking for weaknesses in another is a zero-sum game. This is not a cold war yet, but as India’s stature grows, the possibility of this game intensifying will also increase accordingly. India and Canada are not directly involved in any military-territorial conflict, so the scope of these flare-ups is even more limited. Both are citing long-term national security concerns, and other countries like the UK and US are trying to maintain ‘peace’ by urging India to cooperate in the investigation.
Diplomacy is a practice of separating fact from fiction and addressing both because both matter, even if unequally. Another popular culture reference comes to demonstrate this bridge of spiesA 2014 film about the famous spy exchange between the US and the USSR. James Donovan (Tom Hanks), a lawyer representing a Russian spy named Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), tells him, “The case against you matters. What matters is proving it to them. The fantasy is: whether you did it Or not, it doesn’t matter. The state has to prove that you are a spy”.
Before anyone thinks of taking a lesson from fiction, remember that, in addition to John La Carré, famous writers such as Ian Fleming and Graham Greene once worked in MI6.
(Nishtha Gautam is a Delhi-based writer and academic.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
