'Activity is not continuing...': Canada makes U-turn on terror accusations against India ahead of Carney’s visit, but avoids direct Nijjar reference
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Activity is not continuing...': Canada makes U-turn on terror accusations against India ahead of Carney’s visit, but avoids direct Nijjar reference")
Hardeep Singh Nijjar's poster put up by Sikhs for Justice Photograph: (WION)
Ahead of PM Mark Carney’s India visit, Canada signalled a policy shift, saying it no longer sees India linked to violent crimes or interference. The move marks a reset in strained ties after the Nijjar row, as Ottawa looks to boost diplomatic and economic engagement with New Delhi.
In a significant policy shift ahead of Canadian PM Mark Carney's visit to India, Canada has said that it believes New Delhi is no longer linked to violent crimes in Canada. According to Canadian English daily Toronto Star, the statement came during a briefing with journalists ahead of Carney's trip. According to the report, the statement suggests that Canadian authorities do not see ongoing foreign interference or violent activity tied to India at present. This comes at a time when Carney's visit is seen as Ottawa's effort to pursue a more "pragmatic" foreign policy and deepen economic ties with India.
"We have a very robust diplomatic engagement, including between national security advisers, and I think we can say we're confident that that activity is not continuing," one of the senior officials said on Wednesday. The officials said that previous concerns about active foreign interference or repression linked to India are no longer ongoing. “I really don't think we'd be taking this trip if we thought these kinds of activities were continuing.”
Mark Carney's India visit
Carney is starting his nine-day trip to India, that includes stops in Mumbai and New Delhi. He is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since the time Carney came to power, Canadian government has been trying to improve relations with India that went downhill after the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a gurudwara in British Columbia. Months later, then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was "credible" evidence linking agents of the India government to Nijjar's death, an allegation New Delhi strongly denied. The situation escalated with both sides deciding to expel diplomats. In 2024, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) further claimed that Indian government agents were linked to violent crime in Canada, including death threats and alleged involvement in homicides.
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However, the latest statement by officials is a sharp U-turn from earlier position. Reacting to the statement, Moninder Singh, a religious leader in British Columbia, told the Toronto Star that Vancouver police recently warned him of an imminent threat to his life and that of his family. Protests were also held on Parliament Hill by members of Sikhs for Justice, the group with which Nijjar was associated. Demonstrators condemned the government's renewed engagement with India.
India-Canada relations
Speaking to WION, India's High Commissioner to Ottawa, Dinesh Patnaik had expressed optimism about the ties between the two countries and said that disagreements should be handled through dialogue rather than by damaging the overall relationship. He suggested that Canada had overreacted when the allegations first emerged. On Nijjar issue, he said that the matter is in court. “We have always maintained that we will cooperate with Canada. We work together with Canada to make sure that the perpetrators, are brought to justice.” Patnaik also said that the recent discussions between the two countries' National Security Advisors, during NSA Ajit Doval's visit to Ottawa, marked a significant step forward in strengthening bilateral security ties.
