On the eve of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s official visit to Mumbai and New Delhi, a senior official said the government believes India is no longer planning attacks on Canadians.
The official’s comments at a press background briefing were the first to suggest that India had halted sting operations that had linked Canada to a murder and other violence.
“We have a very strong diplomatic engagement, including between national security advisers, and I think we can say that we are confident that this activity will not continue, otherwise we would not be having this type of discussion,” he said.
When pressed by reporters to clarify the comment, the official declined to elaborate, but added: “I really don’t think we would be making this trip if we thought these types of activities were continuing.”
The official spoke on the condition that his identity be kept secret.
Canadian national security agencies believe India launched a campaign in 2022 to kill activists in North America who support Khalistan, an independent Sikh-majority state in Punjab.
One of the suspected targets was also Hardeep Singh Nijjarwho was shot in June 2023 as he left the temple in Surrey, B.C., where he served as president.
The RCMP believes the Indian government hired gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi to arrange the murder. An Indian intelligence officer was also involved in one Plot to kill another Canadian in the USA
As the RCMP investigation progresses, Commissioner Mike Duheme said announced that the Indian government has been linked to a wide range of violence, often targeting pro-Khalistan activists.
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Canada afterwards six Indian diplomats expelled. But since taking office, Carney has restored and deepened ties with India, which he is asking for a trade deal to balance the tariff-obsessed White House.
Since then it has been Lawrence Bishnoi gangwhich India allegedly worked with to target opponents in Canada, has been linked to the extortion crisis in cities with large South Asian populations.
But at a briefing on Wednesday ahead of Carney’s arrival in India on February 27, the senior government official appeared to suggest that attacks on Canadians in New Delhi had stopped.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada called the official’s comment “completely false” and said it was “not consistent with what Sikh Canadians are experiencing on the ground and what we are seeing first-hand.”
Just last weekend, Vancouver police issued a warning to Canadian Sikh activists Moninder Singh about an imminent threat to him, his wife and their children. It is the fourth such warning he has received since 2022.
“The WSO is aware of incidents over the past six months in which individuals have been subjected to surveillance, harassment and intimidation by agents of the Indian government,” the Sikh national group said in its statement.
“The Carney government has failed to hold India accountable or create meaningful safeguards to ensure Sikh Canadians are safe from foreign interference and cross-border oppression. Declaring the problem solved does not mean it is.”
The senior officials did not respond when asked when they thought India ended its cross-border repression and foreign interference campaign in Canada.
“We are having mature, intensive discussions with the Indian government on these issues. And we have robust safeguards in place to avoid foreign interference,” the official told reporters.
“I can’t give you an exact date as to which people changed their minds. We have a systematic dialogue with the government in India, at the senior official level, at the ministerial level, at the leadership level. And these issues have been raised regularly. And we are confident that we have the basis for further productive discussions.”
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