'Trudeau Made A Huge Mistake': Ex-Pentagon Official On Canada's Allegations Against India

Former Pentagon official Michael Rubin has termed Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's allegations against India a "huge mistake", adding that the PM has not been able to back them at all.

India-Canada Diplomatic Row: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of India's involvement in the killing of Khalistan sympathiser Hardeep Singh Nijjar have sparked massive tensions between the two countries. The US has already expressed "deep concern" over the developments and asked for a proper probe into the allegations. However, former Pentagon official Michael Rubin has called the accusations by Trudeau a "huge mistake", adding that the PM has not been able to back them.

"Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has made a huge mistake. He has made allegations in a manner which he has not been able to back. There are two possibilities here, either he was shooting from the hip and he does not have the evidence to support the accusations he made against the Indian govt or there is something there, in which case he needs to explain why his govt was sheltering a terrorist with blood on his hands," Rubin, who is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said.

 

'When Trudeau Says Trust Me, No One Trusts Him'

Rubin said he was not sure if the allies of Canada were convinced by PM Trudeau's theory. Citing the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, he said, "First of all, let's give one analogy, when Jamal Khashoggi was killed in Istanbul. The Turks were able to provide intelligence support right away, which is why the world rallied around Saudi Arabia in this case. But Justin Trudeau again, he seemed to have shot from the hip."

"I'm not sure that the allies are convinced with Trudeau's theory or that they interpret, the importance of the matter to the same degree that that Justin Trudeau does....He hasn't been able to release any definitive intelligence...when Justin Trudeau says trust me, no one trusts him in the best of times," Rubin said.

He said that Trudeau is "losing" as the country is set for polls in 2023. "And so this is the reason why there is such great, doubt or caution on the part of the United States and the other 5 eyes community," Rubin added.

 

We're Being Hypocritical: Former Pentagon Official On Blinken's Statement

Michael Rubin drew a parallel between separatist Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the killed Al-Qaeda terrorist Osama Bin Laden. Quoting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's statement on the India-Canada row, Rubin said the US is bein "hypocritical".

"...Let's not fool ourselves, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was not simply a plumber any more than Osama Bin Laden was a construction engineer. He had blood on his hands through multiple attacks. And therefore, while Secretary Blinken may after the facts, say that the United States will always stand against transnational oppression," he said.

"We're actually being hypocritical if Secretary Blinken makes that statement because after all, what we're talking about isn't transnational repression. We're talking about transnational terrorism and what the United States did to Qasem Soleimani and what the United States did to Osama Bin Laden is really no different than what India is alleged to have done in this case," the former Pentagon official said.