Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he sees a new opening to engage with India on 'some very serious' issues on national security after the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to office for a third consecutive term.
'As the trial gets closer for Nikhil Gupta, they're going to want to make sure that he doesn't talk.' 'And they're going to put pressure on Mr Gupta to make some deal where the evidence doesn't come out.'
During the briefing, Jaiswal reiterated that so far no evidence has been shared by Canada.
A high-powered enquiry committee set up by the Indian government has recommended legal action against an unnamed individual after probing activities of organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations that undermined the security interests of both India and the US. The probe was ordered after the US alleged an attempt to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun by Indian agents in New York in 2023. The committee, which received full cooperation from US authorities, has also recommended functional improvements in systems and procedures to strengthen India's response capability.
The announcement comes days after an incident of violent disruption by protestors carrying Khalistani flags at a consular event co-organised by the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton and the Indian Consulate.
New Delhi's protest came a day after the Canadian parliament observed a "moment of silence" in the memory of Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia, in June last year.
While Canada denies harbouring extremists or terrorists, Kugelman pointed out that India remains firm in its disagreement.
India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced withdrawing its high commissioner and other 'targeted' officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa's allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a major downturn in already frosty ties between the two nations.
India on Saturday accused Canada of indulging in 'harassment and intimidation' of Indian consular staff there by putting them under audio and video surveillance in 'flagrant violation' of diplomatic conventions.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties.
From bhikshus of Ashokan 3rd century BC and medieval Sufis to Oxfam, Omidyar and Soros now, non-State actors have any real power only when they work in conjunction with a real State, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
"Over the last year or even more, the kind of things that we have seen attacking Indian diplomats, threatening, intimidating, harassing Indian diplomats...Yes, the threats have increased," he added.
'In the end, officials in India will be thrown to the wolves, quietly released a couple of years down the road and we'll never hear about them again.'
Fabian cautioned that things may get worse if the current trajectory continues.
Of the 26 requests sent to Canada for extraditing Khalistani terrorists, Ottawa has resolved only five and the rest remain in limbo, India's top envoy to that country has said, calling it the result of 'inaction'.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
Top Canadian officials have accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of leading a campaign targeting Sikh separatists in Canada, escalating tensions between the two nations.
The United States State Department has refuted reports claiming Washington, DC is considering 'expelling' Indian diplomats amid the strained ties between India and Canada.
Canadian police have arrested a 35-year-old Brampton resident on charges of assault with a weapon during a violent demonstration at a Hindu temple in the city, authorities said.
Trudeau is facing mounting pressure from within his own party, with dissident Liberal MPs giving him an ultimatum to decide his future by October 28.
The escalation in the diplomatic row between India and Canada will not have an impact on the bilateral trade and investment ties between the two countries, government sources said on Tuesday. They also said that the bilateral trade value is not significant and Canadian funds can route their investments through Singapore, the UAE and the US. "India is a preferred investment destination," they said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took a strong exception to the Hindu temple incident in Brampton.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is 'sociologically and politically' an 'idiot' who has never truly understood that the vast majority of Sikhs are quite secular in their outlook and want nothing to do with Khalistan, according to a former Canadian minister.
"Indians will decide the fate of India, not the foreigners," Verma told the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, a prominent think-tank.
The priest of a Hindu temple in the Canadian city of Brampton has been suspended for spreading 'violent rhetoric' during recent clashes between protesters carrying Khalistani flags and the people present there.
The accused were also allegedly involved in the recent murder of another person in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior.
Canada's foreign direct investment (FDI) into India doubled after the pandemic years even as India's own investments into Canada show signs of slackening in recent years. The cumulative equity FDI inflows from Canada rose from $1.8 billion in March 2019 to $3.9 billion in March 2024, shows data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The overall share is up from 0.42 per cent to 0.57 per cent during the same period, suggesting that Canadian FDI grew faster than overall FDI during this period
Chandra Arya, a Member of Parliament from Nepean in the House of Commons, said in a post on his X account that separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs for Justice released a video demanding that Arya and his Hindu-Canadian friends go back to India after he (Arya) condemned the vandalism of the Hindu temple and other acts of hate and violence by Khalistan supporters in Canada.
India first raised the presence of organised crime in Canada but the issue was ignored because of a permissive atmosphere for a long time, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday, rejecting the targeting of its high commissioner and diplomats by the Trudeau government.
The float glorifying Indira Gandhi's assassination was part of a parade that was taken out in Brampton to mark the 40th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
The unease in India-Canada ties was on display when Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday responded to a congratulatory message from his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau and said New Delhi looks forward to working with Ottawa based on mutual understanding and respect for 'each other's concerns'.
Calling Canada's behaviour 'the pits', India's recalled high commissioner Sanjay Verma says India was backstabbed and treated in a most unprofessional manner by a country that is supposed to be a friendly democracy.
The Indian government has lodged a strong protest with Canada after consular officials at the Indian consulate in Vancouver were informed they were under audio and video surveillance and that their private communications had been intercepted. The Indian government maintains that Canada has provided space for pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity and has urged Canada to take action against anti-India elements.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that he discussed the 'present state' of bilateral ties and the current global issues with his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly, amidst a diplomatic row between the two countries over the killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
Avani Dias, the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, said she had to leave India on April 19, the day the Lok Sabha elections started after the government objected to her reporting on the assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
No single individual, institution, or action is to blame for this. The BJP is responding in kind -- definitely not without checking with its government. And they wait for Mr Trump, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The deteriorating ties have raised many questions about the nature of the bilateral relationship, particularly its impact on the large Indo-Canadian population and students currently living in Canada.
Trudeau said that there was a commitment to work together with India to deal with some "very important issues".
Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has filed a civil lawsuit against the Government of India and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, with a US court issuing summons in the case.
It seems that the West is sending a signal to India that it can return to old hostilities unless India toes their line on Russia. It is no surprise that India is being compared with Putin's Russia in terms of targeting 'dissidents' as the West calls these Khalistani terrorists, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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