A parliamentary committee is meeting on Friday to weigh a request to study new allegations of Indian foreign interference in Canada that led to the expulsion of diplomats by both countries in tat-for-tat-moves.
The standing committee on public safety and national security agreed to a request from members to hold the emergency meeting on the recent developments related to new revelations from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police regarding Indian government agents.
The RCMP 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.
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.
India has long denied any involvement in Nijjar’s killing and accused Trudeau on Monday of pursuing a “political agenda.”
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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 and Reuters
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
