Ottawa, March 20
There are currently no clandestine activities or transnational repression in Canada linked to the Indian government, Canada’s police chief has said, in a significant comment amid improving ties between Ottawa and New Delhi. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme made the remarks in an interview with CTV News, saying investigators were not at present able to connect incidents of intimidation or harassment in Canada to any foreign government, including India.
“We’re not seeing any connection right now with any foreign entity, based on the criminal information, the investigations that we have presently,” Duheme said while responding to a question on whether alleged transnational repression by agents of India remained a concern. He added that while authorities continue to receive reports of people being intimidated or harassed, they do not currently have evidence to link such cases to a foreign state.
“I’m saying that based on the totality of the files that we have on foreign interference or transnational repression, what we have in our holdings is we have people that are intimidating people, harassing people, but connecting the dots to a foreign entity, regardless of the country, we don’t have that,” he said.
His comments come after months of diplomatic tensions between Canada and India.
Relations between the two countries had plunged following allegations made in 2023 by then Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau of a possible Indian link to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India rejected the accusation as “absurd”.
Ties worsened further in October 2024, when India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats after Ottawa attempted to link them to the Nijjar case. New Delhi also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.
However, both countries have taken steps in recent months to normalise relations.
The process of resetting ties gathered momentum after Liberal Party leader Mark Carney’s victory in the parliamentary election in April last year.
Since then, both sides have posted high commissioners in each other’s capitals.
Carney also visited India earlier this month, during which the two countries signed key agreements on supplies of uranium and critical minerals, and agreed to work towards concluding a comprehensive economic partnership agreement soon.
