WION Edit: Justin Trudeau's sympathy for Khalistani separatists would hurt him in elections

Justin Trudeau has clearly succumbed to vote bank politics. Last year, his government removed all the references to Khalistani extremism from Canada's report on terrorists.

Does this mean that it's perfectly alright to fuel anti-India Khalistani separatism in Canada long after such a thought has ceased to exist in India?

Trudeau's time at the helm has hurt India-Canada ties. In fact, his own colleagues of Indian origin say that Trudeau and his Liberal Party are too close to Khalistani separatists.

Before his disastrous trip to India last year, Trudeau participated in an event in Toronto that pushed for a separate Khalistan. India would not sit and watch external attempts, by heads of government to hurt its sovereignty.

In fact, if you associate yourself with criminals convicted of attempted murder like Jaspal Atwal, you are not going to get brownie points in India. Trudeau's rating points started falling gradually after his India visit.

Trudeau's sympathy for Khalistani separatism has almost threatened Canada's ties with India and that means bad news for Canada's economy. 

Since Trudeau's disastrous trip to India, Opposition leaders in Canada have attempted to repair the damage.

Trudeau's main rival Scheer even visited India last September. So will sympathy for separatism swing votes? This time, it's hard to predict.

There is a person of Indian origin in the fray and he is expected to nullify Trudeau's Indian vote bank. This could be a shot in the arm for the Conservative Party.

In fact, this year's elections in Canada is all about foreign policy blunders of Trudeau. The arrest of Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou has derailed China-Canada ties.

Trudeau's positioning as a human rights activist has hurt Saudi Arabia-Canada ties. He is not getting much traction with Trump either.

It's all good showcasing the liberal bias. But supporting separatism in another country is not an expression of liberalism.

(Disclaimer: WION Edit is the channel's take on the big events of the world)