The defensiveness is justified because off late the Western media has run a number of articles on India, noting autocratic backsliding and what not, with no evi

The defensiveness is justified because off late the Western media has run a number of articles on India, noting autocratic backsliding and what not, with no evidence and just opinions. India let those slide, and those voices have only got louder. They are not going to let this one go with no answer. To a western nation this makes no difference. But to a country that is trying to show the world that it is a responsible member in the globe, these kind of facts free accusations are pretty damaging. The problem with India is the attitude of sheer apathy. They should have countered the earlier remarks as well, then maybe Trudeau would have thought twice before making these charges as casually as he did. Maybe he would have spent more effort convincing the Indian counterparts why he thought the killers were linked to the government.