Sly old Winston has thrown Canada under bus for an Indian Free Trade Deal…
Winston Peters wades into India-Canada spat over Sikh leader’s death
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has waded into a diplomatic spat between India and Canada related to the killing of a Sikh leader in Vancouver.
Comments from Peters, who has been in New Delhi as NZ tries to push a free trade deal, have caused a storm in the Indian press. They have framed the remarks as casting doubt on the evidence linking India to the killing.
In an interview, Peters said “the value or the quality” of evidence obtained by Five Eyes isn’t always clear and noted there has been no finding on the case.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a controversial figure – according to the BBC India had labelled him a “terrorist” and the “mastermind” behind the Khalistan Tiger Force, a banned militant group.
To his supporters, Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was a peaceful champion of Sikh independence.
He was fatally shot outside a temple in June last year.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government was investigating “credible links” between India and the killing.
India called the claims “absurd” and there has since been a deterioration in relations between the nations.
…Winston is doing this to curry favour with India as we desperately scramble to geopolitically decouple from China and bewilderingly attempt to make India our new China, but is India a trading alternative from an authoritarian regime with questionable human rights practices OR is India another authoritarian regime with questionable human rights practices?
Arundhati Roy: The dismantling of democracy in India will affect the whole world
I thank the Charles Veillon Foundation for honoring me with the 2023 European Essay Award. It may not be immediately apparent how delighted I am to receive it. It’s even possible that I am gloating. What makes me happiest is that it is a prize for literature. Not for peace. Not for culture or cultural freedom, but for literature. For writing. And for writing the kind of essays that I write and have written for the past 25 years.
They have mapped, step by step, India’s descent (although some see it as an ascent) into first majoritarianism and then full-blown fascism. Yes, we continue to have elections, and for that reason, in order to secure a reliable constituency, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party’s message of Hindu supremacism has relentlessly been disseminated to a population of 1.4 billion people. Consequently, elections are a season of murder, lynching and dog-whistling – the most dangerous time for India’s minorities, Muslims and Christians in particular.
It is no longer just our leaders we must fear, but a whole section of the population. The banality of evil, the normalisation of evil is now manifest in our streets, in our classrooms, in very many public spaces. The mainstream press, the hundreds of 24-hour news channels have been harnessed to the cause of fascist majoritarianism. India’s Constitution has been effectively set aside. The Indian Penal Code is being rewritten. If the current regime wins a majority in 2024, it is very likely that we will see a new Constitution.
It is very likely that the process of what is called “delimitation” – a reordering of constituencies – or gerrymandering as it is known in the US, will take place, giving more parliamentary seats to those Hindi-speaking states in North India where the BJP has a base. This will cause great resentment in the southern states and has the potential to balkanise India. Even in the unlikely event of an electoral defeat, the supremacist poison runs deep and has compromised every public institution that is meant to oversee checks and balances. Right now, there are virtually none, except a weakened and undermined Supreme Court.
…I’m not sure moving our trade from an Authoritarian Communist Regime that is committing cultural genocide and mass repression to a Racial Supremacist Fascist State that is committing hate crimes is really all that much of a win for New Zealand ethically.
Our trade is jumping out of the Chinese pan and into the Indian fire while our American Capitalist masters demand more heat.
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So when the terrorist Modi regime murders people, Winston says there is no proof of Modi regime involvement without convictions- something that he knows will not be forthcoming, as the murders were committed by Indian spies under diplomatic cover. But when humanitarian aid workers from the UNRWA are accused of working with the democratically elected Palestinian government, that’s grounds to cut off the UNRWA?
Got it. We all know who Winston’s working for- and it turns out he’ll even bark for their Indian puppets.
Precisely @ M.K.
Winston tries to make out that he is some kind of political strategist, sucking up to various people like Condoleeza Rice etc. in previous times, and now it seems murderous Modi, he is really just a right opportunist old Tory serving local and international capital one way or another.
You do actually ‘got it” @MK. We’re all going to have to just let it all play out. Winston’s gone down the rabbit hole on so many levels – others in his bugger’s muddle of a political party are worse. No wonder the likes of Tracey Martin and Ron M decided to throw the towel in. CHRIST! – that specimen hold-the-ladder-steady Shane for starters.
I’m waiting for a pig’s Trotter to come along soon to give us a history lesson and some spin to justify it all. (Maybe He already has). I find it all a bit sad, but fuck it! They’ve put themselves out there, and even if something comes of Winnie the Poo’s efforts at an FTA (or something similar), it’ll be relatively short lived in the scheme of things, AND it’ll be on India’s “T’s and C’s”. His visit when in coalition with JA’s Labour gummint was insulting, and really just a bit pathetic. A jaunt to nowhere. It’s a shame Labour at the time wasn’t up to saving Him the trip.
He, and His current band of coalition partners, [ partners – is that what they’re fooling themselves they are?], really don’t unna Stan the Indian psyche. Do they think Indians are a collective of masochistic dumb arses?
I wouldn’t mind tagging along for another trip to the subcontinent. I’d offer to show Him some gorgeous (un shithole) spaces and introduce Him to the realities. I’d even be up for a trip on a Boeing 757,
Shane the gorgeous would be OK to tag along.
Not sure they’d survive though,
Convenient lies – call someone guilty and say that since the “guilty” controls evidence, it cannot be proven, and hence it should be considered as proven. Be the accuser, judge, jury and prosecutor.
I guess you all have better solutions since you are so hyper critical. Let’s have them…
If we have to be economically shacked to anyone then India is better than China.
Sorry ‘shacked’ should have read ‘shackled’ ..
I don’t trust any man that doesn’t eat beef.
You sound like a bigot who doesn’t celebrate Gorehabba.
So vegans are not on your xmas card list then? I don’t want to sound critical but I can think of many more important factors that determine who I trust before their diet comes into consideration.
MK that’s silly.
Fuck up Bob the idiot
First it is none of his business .Second they already export record numbers to NZ ,51k in the last year .Third their human rights will suit our government down to the ground .Just look at the way the so called Maori members are happy to throw their own whanau under the bus at the direction of the skin head gang leader .Birds of a feather flock together .
Winnie da pooh backs any state that has a fascist streak remember before the election claiming that maori are practicing apartheid than sucks up to an apartheid state! His party veneration for apartheid Israel goes back decades with a NZF former minister in a previous Nat govt purchased weapons for our DF that were field tested on the indigenous palestinians. India & Israel under this hindu nationalism Modi regime have become close allies sharing a common belief of a perceived muslim threat.
The Mont Pelerin Society (Atlas Network) has links in India and questioned surrounding some of our current govt MP connections to these Junk-tanks needs to be investigated further as I and no doubt many NZers wouldn’t imo want their type of social engineering policies that are hurting other countries causing our country irreparable harm.
The impact of neoliberalism on India has just been tragic. Progress in elevating India’s literacy rate over 75% has practically halted under Modi.
WP is doing the do. He’s just dealt us into the game. He’s a legend.
On this occasion he traded his tin foil hat for another. Legend my arse.
I’m not a fan of Modi, but a small country like us pissing off a country like India who is on a historic rise is not smart. And over an internal conflict that we are in no position to judge. Too much of the left takes the moral high ground vis a vis eastern civilisations.
What ever happened to we don’t Interfere in the domestic affairs of other nations?
It is Canada which has repeatedly allowed terrorism (threatening of diplomats – the posters are for all to see, not punishing those who blew up Air India plane which killed 329 persons, – all in public domain, terror financing) to be used from their soil against India. Mr. Trudeau has also openly supported a farmers’ agitation in India, with zero understanding of the demands and those involved.
India does not need advice from Canada, NZ to protect its very vigorous democracy. We have more independent news channels than all the 5 eyes countries combined and more English news channels than any other individual democracy. At any instant, viewers from around the globe can openly see the vigorous debates going on on these channels, including extremely vigorous criticism of government, including use of even insulting words. Many of these are available on youtube.
All good points but you should not feel the need to defend Indian society by pointing out how many newspapers it has. It should be enough to say that India is run by Indians for the benefit of Indians according to Indian rules.
Foreigners may make comments but as they will not take the responsibility, they should not dictate the rules.
If Democracy has any meaning at all it must mean that local people run the society.
I mean, it depends what you refer to by a ‘historic rise’. If you think that we should side with India, a technical nation state with a literacy rate similar to that of Rwanda, a country which has had one or two problems over the past few decades, against China, that’s an… interesting choice.
Winstone and the nasty coalition will do anything to get a trade deal with India.
Winston Peters is an impolite Mafioso. He’s the Machiavellian Confederate lap poodle to roger douglas who’s morphed into david seymour after drinking bat blood under a pale moon while in the company of the cast from El Conde. https://www.netflix.com/search?q=El%20&jbv=81590652
which is a fantastic film BTW. Shot in black and white and on location in Chile.
El Conde (lit. ’The Count’) is a 2023 Chilean black comedy horror film[2] directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Larraín and Guillermo Calderón.[3][4] It is a satire that portrays Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire seeking death.[5]
Let’s not give Him a level of sophistication though @ CB that’s not His due.
Sad though it may be, and for whatever reason – whether He be back on the piss, or His BFF retail politician has bent His ear, basically He’s now full of shit.
As long as we have the IPL no one will give a rats are about human rights abuses.
Can’t have Kane Trent and the rest missing out now can we
Isn’t that a political tactic to get your Māori Ministers to inflict the most damage to their own but also other struggling NZers they are just modern day kupapa. Key did it with Pulla and Hekia.
In the meantime, Tricola is selling state houses and land in Te Awamutu to keep her tax promise. Less housing for the poor while they are kicking them out of the motels more on the street for our low paid police to sort.
yes I noticed those houses for sale to .Might be some in Te Kuiti as well if they left any to sell last time
Yes, Stephen and then he goes to the Islands and gives them millions acting like he is Father Xmas while he is crapping on his own people him and his sidekick.
Winston Peters’ remarks will have been run by the US State Department before they were made, and he will have received its approval.
The US wants to take India’s side in the dispute because India is more important to the US than Canada at this point in time (and in any case Canada’s loyalty can be taken for granted) but the US cannot be seen to openly endorse terrorism or the blatant violation of an allied state’s sovereignty.
So it uses a New Zealand government minister to make the point that we should put to bed this case of the assassination of a Canadian citizen on Canadian territory by the Indian state.
The interests of New Zealand and the US happen to coincide here, because New Zealand, as Martyn notes, is seeking to replace its dependence on Chinese markets with dependence upon India. But it should also be noted that New Zealand needs to pivot from China to India only so as to comply with the demands being made of New Zealand by the United States in the context of its confrontation with the PRC.
The fallout to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar closely resembles that of the Rainbow Warrior bombing in this country. A country that is formally a subordinate part of the Anglo-American empire has its sovereignty violated by a nation that is not actually a part of that empire, but is considered important to its global interests, with the result that the offended vassal state has to back down and accept the injury to its sovereignty – which was really non-existent in the first place, because ultimately neither Canada nor the Realm of New Zealand have any say over their destiny within the Five Eyes alliance.
Winei, plot lost, to his look at me, back again, how long Winei.
Winston, memory lapse.
No one intelligent actually ‘likes’ Winnie. Just a guy who keeps the crazy half-crazy. Keep it up!
Solipsistic prick. Like most of the big political figures. Especially autocrats.
As Foreign Minister Winston is doing a great job.
The strategic logic here is, the more players in the market, the better the market. You can sell at a higher price if there are more buyers and buy at a lower price if there are more sellers.
If you cut of trade and other contacts with a nation because it doesn’t conduct its internal affairs in a way you approve of, then you are just shooting yourself in the foot to gain a feeling of self-righteousness.
If New Zealand wants to get The USA off its back, then we should do more trade with China, India and many other countries besides, and this would include Russia, Iran Saudi Arabia too.
And not just trade in commodities, cultural, financial and military deals as well.