India-Canada need "Advance Warning System" to prevent future diplomatic rows: Ex-envoy Sanjay Verma

Patna (Bihar) [India], July 18 (ANI): Former Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma has proposed two institutional mechanisms to help "ring-fence" India-Canada ties and prevent future diplomatic flare-ups, while asserting that relations are now moving toward normalcy.
While speaking to ANI, the former envoy said dialogue remains the key to ensuring that isolated incidents do not derail the broader bilateral relationship.
"Relations are moving toward normalcy and need to move further. Dialogue is very important. Whenever tension arises in dialogue and both sides stop talking to each other, even the best of relationships gets ruined," Verma said.
Verma suggested two structural shifts to safeguard the partnership. The first, he termed "ring-fencing," involves creating boundaries so that external incidents do not impact the relationship without prior dialogue. The second is an "advance warning system," an institutional platform between the two countries to flag potential issues early.
"Whenever such issues are about to arise, there should be some platform between the two countries, some institutional mechanism, through which it can be said: 'Look, this is being heard; can we consider this further?'" he said.
"If we put these two things in place, we can, to a large extent, separate our bilateral matters and bilateral relations from other things so that they continue to move forward to new dimensions," he added.
Addressing the earlier diplomatic impasse over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Verma highlighted India's commitment to the rule of law and its opposition to transnational crime.
"As of today, India is strictly against international organised crimes and transnational crimes. India is a member of all global organisations where transnational crime is discussed," he said.
The former envoy said India has always maintained it cannot be involved in such activities and has never refused cooperation when presented with legally credible evidence.
"But if the talk is only about investigating a fictitious story, then it becomes very difficult; our resources are wasted. Our country is based on a system of law," he stated.
On the state of ties, Verma acknowledged there was a trust deficit earlier but highlighted improvement since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Canada last year.
"Improvement in relations only happens when what you call 'trust' improves. So, as of today, I would say that the trust is better now compared to when I and my colleagues returned to India," he said.
Citing the US-led "Operation Hard Ball" against Indian crime syndicates, Verma said India had cooperated in that international investigation along with the US, Canada and several European countries. He termed allegations of Indian non-cooperation as "baseless and wrong."
According to the US Attorney's Office, "Operation Hard Ball" is the FBI's result of a years-long federal investigation into Indian crime syndicates that engage in racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, the trafficking of bulk quantities of narcotics across international borders, and other crimes around the world whose impact is especially felt in the Indian diaspora."
The US Justice Department recently charged gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar with allegedly ordering Nijjar's assassination in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023, while also announcing charges against 37 defendants linked to transnational organised crime networks as part of "Operation Hard Ball." (ANI)