Latest news with #foreigninterference
CTV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Carney says it's ‘foundational' to have diplomatic ties with India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, speaks as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney listens before a meeting at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says that reinstating key diplomats between Canada and India is a 'foundational' step in restoring the relationship between the two countries. But Carney still refuses to say whether he raised the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week. He also would not say what India has done since Canada expelled six top Indian diplomats in October over allegations Indian agents or their proxies were engaging in violent crimes directed at Canadians including murder, extortion and coercion. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service identified India as one of the main drivers of foreign interference in its annual report that was released publicly on Wednesday. India also expelled six Canadian diplomats in October, and Carney and Modi agreed in their meeting to both appoint new high commissioners. Carney says that Canada made its position 'very clear' that transnational repression, the form of foreign interference Canada alleged India engaged in, will not be tolerated from any source. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. David Baxter, The Canadian Press
National Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
India still poses foreign interference threat to Canada despite renewed diplomacy: CSIS
OTTAWA — Indian officials and their proxy agents in Canada engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Wednesday in its annual report. Article content When such activities are deceptive, clandestine or threatening, they are deemed to be foreign interference, the report says. Article content Article content Article content '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,' the report says. Article content Article content The report adds that the re-election of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will mean India's political course will continue to follow the Hindu-nationalist policy agenda implemented since Modi was first elected in 2014. Article content 'Modi and his core ministers and advisers are keen to build India's global influence and counter any activity they consider as 'anti-India,' at home or abroad, in the name of domestic stability and prosperity,' the CSIS report says. Article content 'With that considered, there is a long history of India arguing that Canada is a haven for 'anti-India' activity, with the separatist Khalistan movement being a particular focus of India's concern, which is rooted in the aftermath of the 1985 Air India bombing and subsequent terrorist activity in India.' Article content Article content The report, which was tabled in the House of Commons on June 13, comes as Canada renews diplomatic ties with India following Prime Minister Mark Carney's meeting with Modi at the G7 in Kananaskis, Alta., on Tuesday. The two leaders agreed to reappoint their respective high commissioners. Article content Article content In October 2024, Canada expelled consular officials and six Indian diplomats — including the high commissioner — when they refused to co-operate with a police probe into allegations that agents of the Indian government ran a targeted campaign of criminal violence and harassment against Canadian citizens.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
India accused of being main perpetrator of foreign interference by CSIS
One day after PM Mark Carney shook hands with Indian PM Narendra Modi, a new CSIS report accuses India of foreign interference. Abigail Bimman reports. A new report from Canada's spy agency calls India one of the 'main perpetrators' of foreign interference and espionage, as Canada and India moved to strengthen ties at this week's G7 meeting. The new annually released public report from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) called links between the Government of India and the 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar a 'significant escalation in India's repression efforts against the Khalistan movement and a clear intent to target individuals in North America.' The report warned that Canada 'must remain vigilant about continued foreign interference conducted by the Government of India, not only within ethnic, religious and cultural communities but also in Canada's political system.' Carney and Modi Prime Minister Mark Carney greets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Prime Minister Mark Carney sat down with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta on Tuesday, and announced high commissioners would be restored in both countries. Canada and India both expelled diplomats in the wake of the Nijjar murder in 2023. New Delhi has denied involvement. 'Of course, we've had difficult conversations with the Indian government, and that will continue,' said Canada's Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree in Ottawa, when asked by reporters to square restoring diplomatic ties with the new CSIS report. 'It is absolutely clear that as a government, we condemn any interference by foreign actors in Canada. The RCMP, as you're aware, is completing its ongoing investigation,' said Anandasangaree. 'I think at some point we do have to get back to having a dialogue, getting our diplomats back to India and vice versa. I don't believe that the G7 was the proper venue for that,' former CSIS intelligence officer Dan Stanton told CTV News. Stanton says inviting Modi to the G7 was 'premature,' and hopes Canadians are paying attention to the warnings CSIS is putting out about foreign interference. 'I think the messaging the government unintentionally sent out is rather confusing. The one hand, we're taking transnational repression seriously. At the second hand, we're inviting people over, putting them on the red carpet and making it look as though all is fine and wonderful,' said Stanton. 'Dialogue is not necessarily bad, but it has to be principled,' said Balpreet Singh of the World Sikh Organization of Canada. He says announcing the appointment of new high commissioner raises a lot of questions. 'Until there's accountability and a commitment to actually work with Canadian law enforcement with these ongoing investigations and not to do it anymore, I think any dialogue is premature,' said Singh. Jody Thomas, former national security advisor to Justin Trudeau, says that until there is some acknowledgement from the Indian government about what happened, there will always be 'an element of distrust.' 'I think that the level of trust will take years to rebuild, but it has to start,' Thomas told CTV's Power Play Tuesday. She calls the G7 bilateral meeting a 'critical step forward' for the relationship between the two countries. 'I think that the expectation that India understands the damage they have done here in Canada is really important,' said Thomas. The CSIS report also labels China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan as main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
CTV National News: India accused of being main perpetrator of foreign interference by CSIS
CTV National News: India accused of being main perpetrator of foreign interference by CSIS One day after PM Mark Carney shook hands with Indian PM Narendra Modi, a new CSIS report accuses India of foreign interference. Abigail Bimman reports.
CBC
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Canada 'must remain vigilant' about Indian foreign interference, CSIS report cautions
Social Sharing Canada's spy agency is warning that India's government continues to be a foreign interference concern a day after the two countries agreed to reinstate their top diplomats. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) released its annual report on Wednesday, outlining some key concerns and threats to Canada's national security. India was listed as a potential source of foreign interference activities, alongside Russia, China and Iran. "Canada must remain vigilant about continued foreign interference conducted by the Government of India, not only within ethnic, religious and cultural communities but also in Canada's political system," the report reads. The CSIS report comes just a day after Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to reinstate their high commissioners and are eyeing renewed visa services to each other's citizens and businesses. The two countries expelled each other's high commissioners, senior diplomats who are similar to ambassadors, last fall after the RCMP accused the Indian government of playing a role in a network of violence in Canada, including homicides and extortion. Most significantly, the RCMP have alleged Indian agents were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian Khalistani separatist who was brazenly gunned down outside a Sikh temple in B.C. in 2023. Nijjar and others in that movement have been calling for an independent Sikh homeland in northern India called Khalistan, which Modi's government has vigorously opposed and denounced as a national security threat. "Links between the Government of India and the Nijjar murder signals a significant escalation in India's repression efforts against the Khalistan movement and a clear intent to target individuals in North America," Wednesday's report reads. It notes that in Canada, "a small group of individuals are considered Khalistani extremists," but that doesn't extend to those who take part in "legitimate and peaceful campaigning to support the Khalistan movement." "Real and perceived Khalistani extremism emerging from Canada continues to drive Indian foreign interference activities in Canada," the report says. Calls to label Indian gang a terrorist group Carney faced backlash — from Sikh advocates and some of his own MPs — for inviting Modi to this week's G7 summit. Carney has defended the invitation, saying it makes sense to have the leader of the world's most populous country around the table when there are "big challenges" to discuss. According to the prime minister's readout, Carney raised "transnational crime and repression, security and the rules-based order" with Modi during their meeting on Tuesday. WATCH | Public safety minister on threats from India: Anandasangaree: 'Difficult conversations' with India will continue, no decision on Bishnoi gang 11 minutes ago Duration 2:59 Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree responded to questions Tuesday about a CSIS report listing India as a top country for foreign interference in Canada. Anandasangaree also said proper security processes need to be followed if India's Lawrence Bishnoi gang is to be designated a terrorist entity. Asked during the closing G7 news conference what he said to Modi about Nijjar's murder on Canadian soil, Carney did not directly answer. "We have had a discussion, the prime minister and I, about the importance of having the law enforcement-to-law enforcement dialogue. Not just dialogue, but co-operation," the prime minister said. B.C. Premier David Eby said Tuesday that he wants the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang declared a terrorist organization in Canada due to their alleged links to criminal activities. Police in Surrey, B.C., have said members of the South Asian community are being extorted under threat of death or violence, with the Bishnoi gang being linked to some of those threats. WATCH | B.C. premier responds to extortion reports: B.C. Premier Eby responds to reports of extortion in Surrey 20 hours ago Duration 3:30 Eby said he would be writing to Carney to ask that the gang be given the terrorist designation "to enable police to be able to use the necessary tools to investigate." Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Wednesday that he has taken note of Eby's comments but hasn't received an official request. "This is an independent process that goes through our public security agencies and upon their recommendation, I will be able to take that decision to cabinet," he told reporters on Parliament Hill. MP Jenny Kwan, the NDP public safety critic, also wrote to Carney on Wednesday calling for the government to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group. She urged Carney to suspend any security and intelligence-sharing agreements with India.
