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Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney seems to be putting a lid on nearly two years of tumult in India-Canada relations which began worsening when then Canadian PM Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of killing a Khalistani activist Hardeep Nijjar in Vancouver. His allegations were followed by recall of diplomats and downgrading of ties. In a bilateral meeting on the margins of the recently held G7 summit in Canada, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Carney agreed to an early return of high commissioners and resumption of stalled trade talks. Carney's invitation to Modi for the G7 Summit, in the face of protests by Khalistanis and their sympathetic politicians, was itself a sign of his new approach to India.
Days later, a report by a Canadian intelligence agency has pointed out, for the first time with remarkable candour, that a section of Khalistanis are plotting violence against India from Canadian soil. Earlier, Canadian authorities chose to ignore while openly supporting violent extremist groups which have infiltrated Canada's politics and governance. A few years ago, when the same agency pointed out the threat by Khalistani terrorism, it was forced by the Trudeau government to redact that part from its report.
What the CSIS report says about Khalistani terrorism in Canada
Canada's top intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), has for the first time officially confirmed that Khalistani extremists are using Canadian soil as a base to promote, fundraise and plan violent activities, primarily targeting India. The CSIS has finally confirmed what India has long maintained, that Canada has become a safe haven for anti-India elements. The CSIS's 2024 annual report validates India's long-standing concerns about pro-Khalistan groups operating from Canada.
"Since the mid-1980s, the PMVE [politically motivated violent extremism] threat in Canada has manifested primarily through Canada-based Khalistani extremists (CBKEs) seeking to use and support violent means to create an independent nation state called Khalistan, largely within Punjab, India," the report says.
"Some Canadians participate in legitimate and peaceful campaigning to support the Khalistan movement," the CSIS report goes on to say. "Non-violent advocacy for an independent state of Khalistan is not considered extremism. Only a small group of individuals are considered Khalistani extremists because they continue to use Canada as a base for the promotion, fundraising or planning of violence primarily in India. While there were no CBKE-related attacks in Canada in 2024, ongoing involvement in violent activities by CBKEs continues to pose a national security threat to Canada and Canadian interests. In particular, real and perceived Khalistani extremism emerging from Canada continues to drive Indian foreign interference activities in Canada."
However, the report also claims that India is a perpetrator of foreign interference in Canada. "Indian officials, including their Canada-based proxy agents, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians," the report says. "These activities attempt to steer Canada’s positions into alignment with India’s interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent homeland that they call Khalistan." However, there is nothing new about these claims by Canadian agencies who have been accusing India of interference for a long time.
Will Carney crack down on Khalistani terrorists in Canada?
Will the CSIS admission of Canadian Khalistanis indulging in violent anti-India activities from Canadian soil lead to action by the Carney government? Khalistanis in Canada have not only formed themselves into a voting bloc that can decide the electoral fate of parties but are also deeply embedded in the Canadian government. The World Sikh Organisation (WSO), a prominent Khalistani body, has considerable influence within the Canadian government.
While Carney may not want to upset a sizable voting bloc and might also feel unable to entirely change the mindset of the Canadian officials who have come to regard Khalistanis as harmless political activists, he can still do a lot that can pull India-Canada ties out of the Khalistani quagmire.
It will be too optimistic to expect Carney to crack down on Khalistanis who publicly enact the killing of Indira Gandhi, praise the perpetrators of Kanishka bombing and vow to kill "Modi politics", but he has a long list of actions due from the Canadian government for long. For years, India sent extradition requests to Canada which it continued to ignore.
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 five men are in the process of being extradited, former
Sanjay Verma, who was the India High Commissioner in Canada before India recalled its diplomats and downgraded ties due to threat to their lives, had told PTI in an interview last year that of the 26 requests sent to Canada for extraditing Khalistani terrorists, Canada had resolved only five and the rest remained in limbo, calling it the result of "inaction". India had recalled Verma and five other diplomats after they were named "person of interest" in a Canadian investigation into the killing of Nijjar and Khalistanis had put them on a hit list.
"According to the last information that I had, five of them have been resolved. Twenty-one are still pending, and these are pending for decades. So, I would say that there is an inaction rather than consultation. All the issues which get into the judicial system of a country, sometimes need consultations, because we follow two different judicial systems," he said. But, if there is no action in the last four-five or 10 years, then "I would only call it inaction", Verma said.
The extradition requests are for Canadian citizens who have been charged in India with terror and related crimes. India also sought "provisional arrests" of several of the accused, which remain pending with Canada.
Last year in December, Arsh Dalla, the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force in Canada, was granted bail despite India's efforts to get him extradited. He was arrested for gun violence. Dalla is a proclaimed offender in India in over 50 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and terrorist acts including terror financing. In May 2022, a Red Corner Notice was also issued against him. He was designated in India as an individual terrorist in 2023. In July 2023, Indian govt had requested the Canadian government for his provisional arrest.
Ahead of PM Modi's visit to Canada, the Indian government had said that his meeting with Carney will offer an important opportunity to explore pathways to reset the relationship based on "mutual respect, shared interests, and sensitivity to each other's concerns". While bilateral trade figures at the top of the agenda, there are expectations that Carney will start working on India's long-stalled extradition requests.
