Good morning. Let’s take a break from HS2, but in case you aren’t aware, Rishi Sunak yesterday confirmed the line from Birmingham to Manchester has been scrapped, but it will extend to central London. Find all the details here, and reaction from Tory MPs at the conference – “it feels like a really boozy wake” – here.
Instead, today we will take a deep dive into the full-blown diplomatic row between Canada and India, which threatens to force the UK, US and other western countries to pick a side. The choices aren’t great.
Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau has accused “agents of the government of India” of involvement in the assassination of Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. Trudeau has called on Canada’s allies to come together to challenge India. “It is extremely serious and it has far-reaching consequences for international law and order,” he said.
India has dismissed the allegation as “absurd” and denied any connections to Nijjar’s death. It also accused Canada of sheltering “extremists and terrorists” who “threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” It comes as western nations are desperately courting India – the world’s fifth largest economy – as an alternative source of growth to China.
After the headlines, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, the Guardian’s south Asia correspondent, will explain everything.
