Members of a parliamentary committee have called for an emergency meeting on new allegations of Indian foreign interference in Canada as diplomatic tensions between the two countries have escalated this week.
The standing committee on public safety and national security is set to meet Friday morning to discuss the recent developments that saw Canada expel six Indian diplomats and consular officials “in relation to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the government of India.”
The House of Commons is on break this week, but MPs on that committee will convene Friday to consider the request for a study on the RCMP allegations and their aftermath.
The political dispute has members of the Indian diaspora in Canada on edge, with many families and students expressing concern about their ability to travel if the conflict escalates to visa suspensions.
Relations between India and Canada have soured since 2023 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian intelligence agencies had credible evidence linking agents of the Indian government to the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which is investigating Nijjar’s killing, said on Monday that it has significant amount of information on criminal activity allegedly orchestrated by agents of the Indian government.
The evidence points to “violent extremism” in both countries, links tying Indian government agents to homicides and violent acts, use of organized crime targeting the South Asian community in Canada, and interference in democratic processes, according to the RCMP.
India has long denied any involvement in Nijjar’s killing and accused Trudeau on Monday of pursuing a “political agenda.”
Trudeau told a foreign interference inquiry on Wednesday that rather than co-operating with Canada’s investigations into the role of its intelligence services in Nijjar’s assassination, India instead pushed back.
Responding to Trudeau’s testimony, the Indian government said Canada had “presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats.”
Global News has learned agents working out of India’s high commission in Ottawa and consulates in Vancouver and Toronto were behind dozens of violent crimes across Canada that targeted opponents of the Narendra Modi government.
According to senior sources familiar with the matter, supporters of the Khalistan movement, which seeks independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab region, as well as rivals of the Modi government, were targeted.
— with files from Global News, The Canadian Press and Reuters