Feds dispute envoy’s assertion India ‘now not seen’ by Canada as involved in foreign interference

Although India’s top diplomat in Canada says Ottawa has been "very clear" that New Delhi is "now not seen" as being involved in foreign interference, and that he is "surprised that such allegations" are still being made given the upward trend in the bilateral relationship, the federal government says nothing about its previous posture has changed—despite some conflicting statements from the RCMP.

A collection of United Nations special rapporteurs recently sent a letter to Canada expressing “concern” over alleged transnational repression from Indian authorities against Canadian Sikh leader Moninder Singh, and a lack of domestic action. 

“What [the] Canadian government has [been] very clear in which we are discussing with them is that India is now not being seen as somebody involved in these issues,” Indian High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik told The Hill Times earlier this month. 

The Canada-India relationship has warmed since Prime Minister Mark Carney (Nepean, Ont.) came to office.

Simon Lafortune, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree (Scarborough–Guildwood–Rouge Park, Ont.), said in an email that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's (CSIS) "threat assessment of the main perpetrators of foreign interference and transnational repression against Canada has not changed.” 

In Feb. 5 testimony to the House Public Safety Committee, CSIS director Dan Rogers listed “China, Russia, India, and others” when asked which country was the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada elections and democratic institutions. 

Asked if Patnaik had been specifically told by a Canadian government department or official that India is “now not being seen” as being involved in foreign interference, a spokesperson for the Indian High Commission said that the envoy’s remarks “draw on public statements by Canadian law enforcement officials,” citing comments senior RCMP officials made to media. 

Those include comments from RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme this past March when he told CTV's Question Period that “in the files that we have that involve transnational repression, we're not seeing any connection right now with any foreign entity, based on the criminal information, the investigations that we have presently.” RCMP deputy commissioner Lisa Moreland told the CBC's Power and Politics last month that “nothing has come out today” to link Indian authorities to a series of arrests of those linked to killings of Sikh activists. 

Patnaik said that India is supportive of the arrests being made. 

“We are happy right now that Canada has recognized that these are threats to Canadian integrity, Canadian sovereignty, and [the] Canadian population,” he told The Hill Times in an interview at the Indian High Commission. 

In a subsequent statement, the spokesperson for the Indian high commission said Patnaik "has always maintained that India does not ever get involved in such activities and that given the upward trajectory of our bilateral relations, he is surprised that such allegations are still made by some people in the government.”

Prior to Carney’s March trip to India, a government official told reporters that India’s involvement in foreign interference is “not continuing.” After those comments, Anandasangaree said that “there's still a lot more work to do, and we will do that work.”  

Lafortune said Canada takes “allegations of foreign interference and transnational repression extremely seriously,” and that the government’s priority is on the “safety and security of Canadians and the protection of our democratic institutions.” 

“Our government’s stance is unequivocal: foreign interference will not be tolerated and anyone who threatens or harms people in Canada at the direction of, or in co-ordination with, a foreign state will face serious consequences under Canadian law, as we remain steadfast in defending our sovereignty, democratic values, and the rights of all Canadians,” he said in an Aug. 10 emailed statement. 

India’s response to UN letter 

In June, four UN special rapporteurs and an independent expert sent a letter to Canada that outlined their concerns regarding the “credible threats” faced by Singh and his family. 

Singh, a Khalistani activist and spokesperson for the Sikh Federation of Canada, has received four “duty to warn” notices from Canadian law enforcement over “credible and imminent threats to his life,” including most recently in February, the UN special rapporteurs note. 

“We are concerned that such threats fall within a broader pattern of transnational repression by Indian authorities against Sikh activists in different countries, including Canada,” the June 3 letter reads, noting concern over a lack of Canadian actions since the February notice. 

In an Aug. 3 response, the Canadian permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva said that this country is “deeply concerned” by threats against Singh and his family. 

“Transnational repression is never justified,” the response notes. “Canada is taking robust actions to detect, disrupt, and deter transnational repression, online and offline, and to enhance protections and supports for those in Canada who are targeted by such acts.” 

Canada’s response cites the “unprecedented step” taken by the RCMP in 2024 of “publicly disclosing the threat posed by actions in the Government of India." 

A series of investigations led the RCMP to issue a statement in October 2024 highlighting that it had "learned a significant amount of information about the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the Government of India, and consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada."

Patnaik said that India expects Canada would protect its citizens if they feel threatened. 

“We have no problem with the UN asking any country to protect its citizens,” Patnaik said, but added that he doesn’t want to see someone incidentally hurt and then India gets blamed. 

“I want Moninder Singh to be safe because I don’t want anything to happen to him and then he blames us for it,” he said.

In an Aug. 17 phone interview with The Hill Times, Singh described Patnaik’s remarks as an “underhanded” comment as India “are at the root of this entire problem.”

“The United Nations is not [urging] Canada to protect me from gangs or from their own government or from militias. They are actually asking the Canadian government to provide protection to somebody that lives in Canada from the Indian government,” he said. 

“It’s completely disingenuous, and—I think—ludicrous for a statement like that when they are the focal point of the United Nations letter,” he said. 

Canada prioritizing trade over human rights: Singh 

Singh said that Canada’s economic relationship with India is being placed “front and centre” over human rights concerns or protection of its own citizens. 

Canada’s position towards India has “clearly changed” since Carney came into power, Singh said, remarking that the prioritization of foreign interference and transnational repression since the assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar has flipped in favour of economic issues. The case against four Indian nationals accused in Nijjar’s homicide is currently ongoing in British Columbia.

“Human rights and the protection and safety of Canada and Canadians is the secondary, maybe tertiary issue now,” Singh said. 

He said that Patnaik's reference to the improved bilateral relationship between Canada and India is a sign that they want to “shut this whole thing up.” 

“They want anything and everything to do with their criminal activity in Canada swept aside,” he said.  

Singh said the Canadian government is “walking a dangerous line right now.”

“They are trying to court a country that is deeply involved in foreign interference and transnational repression, and assassination of its citizens, and nothing good at the end of the day will come from this,” he said.

nmoss@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times