Senior Modi cabinet minister linked to India-backed violence in Canada: Officials

Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison confirmed reports that Canada alleges that an Indian cabinet minister and close adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered intelligence-gathering operations against Canadians.

The Washington Post first reported that Canadian officials allege that Indian Home Secretary Amit Shah is behind a campaign of violence and intimidation against Sikh separatists in Canada.

Morrison told MPs on the national security committee on Tuesday that he was the one who confirmed Shah’s name to this newspaper.

“A reporter called me and asked if it was the person. I confirmed that it was the person,” Morrison told the committee.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had reliable evidence of the involvement of agents of the Indian government in the June 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijar in British Columbia.

On October 14, Canada expelled India’s high commissioner and five other diplomats, alleging they were persons of interest in multiple cases of coercion, intimidation and violence aimed at suppressing the campaign for an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.

Natalie Drouin, the prime minister’s national security adviser, told the committee on Tuesday that Canada has evidence that the Indian government initially collected information on Indian citizens and Canadian citizens in Canada through diplomatic channels and proxies.

She said the information was passed on to the government in New Delhi, which is allegedly working with a criminal network linked to Lawrence Bishnoi.

Bishnoi is currently in jail in India, but Drouin said his extensive criminal network was linked to murders, planning murders, coercion and other violent crimes in Canada.

Before the RCMP released allegations that Indian diplomats were persons of interest in criminal investigations, Drouin said there were efforts to work with the Indian government to ensure accountability.

Drouin said there was a meeting with Modi’s national security adviser Ajit Doval two days earlier in Singapore.

Drouin said the decision to go public came when it became clear that the Indian government would not cooperate with Canada on the proposed liability measures.

This included asking India to waive diplomatic immunity for those concerned, including the High Commissioner in Ottawa. Drouin said that was not considered likely.

The RCMP said it took the extraordinary step of going public with ongoing investigations due to threats to public safety.

The Indian government denies the allegations and has responded by expelling six Canadian diplomats.

Liberal MP Ikwinder Gahir said the evidence the committee received on Tuesday reinforced “whispers” that had existed in the Sikh community for years and described the situation as something out of a Bollywood movie.

Drouin and Morrison were called as witnesses before the committee, along with RCMP Commissioner Mike Duhame, CSIS Director Daniel Rogers and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Safety Tricia Geddes.

Both Public Security Minister Dominique LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly are expected to appear at subsequent meetings as the investigation continues.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on October 29, 2024