This week, in Prabhasakshi News Network’s special program Shaurya Path, issues related to India-Canada relations, Israel-Iran conflict, Russia-Ukraine war and SCO summit were discussed with Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi ji (Retd). Here is the detailed interview-
Question 1. The strained relations between India and Canada have now reached a stage of bitterness. How do you see it?
Answer: This is all a matter of electoral politics. He said that in fact Trudeau is having to take this step due to his falling popularity rating at the domestic level and increasing dissatisfaction against the government. He said that even in the Canadian media, Trudeau’s move is being seen as an attempt to woo the politically important Sikh community ahead of next year’s federal elections. He said that amid complaints of the rising cost of living, poor healthcare system and rising crime rates, the Ipsos survey showed that only 26% of people saw Trudeau as the best PM candidate, 19% behind Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. The percentage points are less. He said that many political analysts are also predicting that Trudeau’s party will face a crushing defeat in the elections like the Conservatives in Britain. He said there are more than 7.7 lakh Sikhs in Canada, the fourth largest ethnic community. He said that it is believed that a large section of Sikhs in Canada support the demand for Khalistan.
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Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that India has always raised objections about Trudeau’s policy on pro-Khalistan separatists. Even during his meeting with Trudeau during the G-20 summit in New Delhi last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed concern over anti-India activities by extremists in Canada. He said that this is not the first time that separatists have created a major sourness in bilateral relations between India and Canada. He said Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, when he was the Prime Minister of Canada, also did not have good relations with New Delhi because he too was with the separatists due to vote bank politics.
Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that another reason being understood is that Trudeau has once again taken an anti-India step because his government has been accused of negligence in stopping China’s interference in domestic politics. Is behaving. He said that Canada also sought support from its allies against India but did not get the expected success. He said that if seen, Trudeau’s cabinet includes such people who are openly associated with extremist and separatist agenda regarding India. He said that the Canadian Prime Minister is making all kinds of allegations against India but is not giving any evidence. He said that the Canadian government has not shared even a single piece of evidence with the Indian government despite several requests. He said that this leaves no doubt that this is a strategy to deliberately defame India for political gains in the name of investigation. He said Trudeau’s government was dependent on a political party whose leaders openly support separatist ideology against India. He said it is also no coincidence that tensions on the part of the Canadian government have been heightened at a time when Prime Minister Trudeau is scheduled to testify before a commission on foreign interference. He said that the Trudeau government promotes anti-India separatist agenda but now it will have to pay the price because the hostility taken this time is going to have a bad economic impact on the Canadian economy.
Question-2. In which direction is the Israel-Iran conflict going now?
Answer- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured US President Joe Biden that Israel plans to attack only military targets in Iran, not nuclear or oil facilities. He said Netanyahu is reported to have told Biden during a phone call on October 9 that Israel was only planning to target military infrastructure in Iran. He said that the White House is said to be very relieved by Netanyahu’s plan. He said Israel understood that if it attacked oil facilities in Iran, energy prices could increase dramatically. Apart from this, an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities could also increase tension and increase the risk of America getting caught in a broader conflict.
Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that even before this Biden had said that he does not consider it appropriate for Israel to attack nuclear facilities in Iran. He said that being reassured by Israel’s words, America has increased its aid. He said about 100 American troops would soon be on active duty there to help defend Israel. They will be deployed with Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries. He said the THAAD deployment is also a political and military signal ahead of Israel’s expected retaliatory strike on Iran. He said we should see the deployment of THAAD as an American commitment to Israel’s security.
Question 3. At what stage is the Russia-Ukraine war now?
Answer- Russia is gradually gaining ground and Ukraine is also retreating from where it was, which clearly shows that victory for Russia is not far away. He said that the Ukrainian President is more fond of announcing his victory plan. He said that recently Volodymyr Zelensky had come to America to tell President Joe Biden about his victory plan and now he is telling helpful countries about his victory plan. Whereas the reality is that their army is not able to stand against Russia. He said that the situation is such that there is a huge shortage of soldiers and defense equipment in Ukraine. He said that a feeling is emerging in Ukraine that the people want that all the territory that Russia has taken should be given to it and the war should be ended so that they can live in peace. But Ukraine and its supporting countries do not want to see Putin win at any cost, so they are assuring Ukraine of more help soon.
Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that the Russian Army is moving forward in the east because it wants to strengthen its position before the arrival of winter. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had just last month said Russia was expanding the list of scenarios that could lead it to consider launching nuclear weapons. He said that apart from this, if we talk about the war zone, it is expanding. The Russian Defense Ministry said Russian glide bombs had struck a center of Ukrainian troops. He said the statement said the attack was carried out against “a strong concentration of Ukrainian armed forces personnel” and that the bombs were dropped by a Russian Su-34 warplane. He said that in addition, Russia’s Defense Ministry has said that its forces have taken control of the village of Mykhailivka in eastern Ukraine, where they are advancing towards the important logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that in addition, this week the Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia fired 68 drones and four missiles targeting Ukrainian territory overnight. The Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that two Iskander-M ballistic missiles struck the Poltava and Odessa regions and two Kh-59 guided air missiles targeted the Chernihiv and Sumy regions, he said. The Ukrainian Air Force said Ukraine’s air defense units destroyed 31 drones, while 36 were unaccounted for, he said.
Question-4. What were the achievements of the SCO conference? Will External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan bring any improvement in India-Pakistan relations?
Answer- There seems to be no scope for improvement in the relations between the two countries because Foreign Minister S. During Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan, there were no bilateral talks of any kind, except formal greetings. Apart from this, nothing major came out from the addresses of the SCO member countries. India also used this opportunity to take on Pakistan and China. He said that as far as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s address is concerned, he gave an indirect message to Pakistan from its own soil and clearly said that if the cross-border activities are based on the “three evils” of terrorism, extremism and separatism, then Cooperation in areas like trade, energy and connectivity is unlikely to increase. He said Jaishankar, while addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, said that territorial integrity and sovereignty should be recognized in trade and connectivity initiatives and it is necessary to have honest dialogue on trust deficit. He said Jaishankar made these comments amid the ongoing military standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh and concerns over China’s growing military power in the Indian Ocean and other strategic waters.