CSIS says India is a continued foreign interference threat as Canada renews diplomacy

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shake hands during a meeting at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

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.

When such activities are deceptive, clandestine or threatening, they are deemed to be foreign interference, 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,” the report says.

It goes on to say 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.

“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 reads.

“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.”

The report comes as Canada renews diplomatic ties with India after Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Modi at the G7 in Kananaskis, Alta., on Tuesday. The two countries agreed to reappoint their respective high commissioners.

In October 2024, Canada expelled consular officials and six Indian diplomats -- including the high commissioner, when they refused to co-operate with a police investigation alleging agents of the Indian government ran a targeted campaign of criminal violence and harassment against Canadian citizens.

India responded by expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner. Both high commissioner positions have been vacant since then.

A year before the diplomats were expelled, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and the RCMP said they have credible evidence linking agents of the Indian government to the 2023 murder of Canadian Sikh-activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C.

Wednesday was the second anniversary of his murder.

Four Indian nationals have been charged with first degree murder and the court process is ongoing.

At a news conference in Kananaskis on Tuesday night, Carney would not answer a question about whether he raised Nijjar’s killing with Modi.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Canada has had “difficult conversations” with the Indian government and that will continue.

“There is no way in which a third country can come into Canada and implement, using proxies, be involved in the murder of a Canadian. And we have expressed our concerns over many months, and we will continue to do so,” Anandasangaree said at the conclusion of the Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday. “It is an independent investigation that’s been undertaken by the RCMP, and I think we need to wait until they complete that work.”

Anandasangaree said that the government condemns any attempt at foreign interference in Canada, and the RCMP’s investigation into Nijjar’s killing will remain an independent process.

B.C. Premier David Eby said Tuesday he wants to see the Lawrence Bishnoi gang designated as a terrorist group. The RCMP have said the gang targets Sikh-separatist activists in Canada on behalf of the Indian government.

Eby said Tuesday that the gang had been linked to extortions and other crimes against South Asian community members in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.

Anandasangaree said the federal government has not yet received a formal request from Eby but he looks forward to discussing it further with the premier.

The minister said that security officials continually assess which groups could be added to Canada’s terrorist list. He would not say if the Bishnoi gang is currently up for consideration.

“This doesn’t mean it’s an active file right now, but I will say that at all times, our security apparatus will assess the threats and whether they meet the legal threshold that’s in the Criminal Code for the listing,” Anandasangaree said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.

David Baxter and Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

With files from Darryl Greer and Nono Shen in Vancouver