India and Canada resume intelligence sharing and cooperation

impulse in dealings betwixt bharat and Canada has resulted in intelligence service sharing and cooperation among agencies of the two countries.

There is also an effort on to enhance the ongoing security and law enforcement dialogue between the two countries.

India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Dinesh Patnaik met Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree last week. In a post following the meeting, he said, “Discussed our shared priorities in enhancing security and law enforcement cooperation between India and Canada. We also explored new avenues for collaboration and ways to further strengthen our existing engagement mechanisms.”

The dialogue currently in place is led by the National Security Advisors of the two countries. Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor Nathalie G Drouin met NSA Ajit Doval in New Delhi in September. On her return to Ottawa, she told reporters, “It was a productive meeting where we established a channel of communication to talk about respective concerns.”

“We have a common understanding and common goal here. They want us to be very clear in terms of One India and the respect of the integrity of their territory and what we want is safer streets in Canada,” she added.

The dialogue has two verticals, with one involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP and the National Investigation Agency or NIA. Both agencies have ongoing virtual discussions, while RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme had accompanied Drouin on her India visit and later underscored the need for the two countries to “work together.”

A senior Indian official said the dialogue encompassed a “broad agenda” which included information on gangs, terrorist links, movements of weapons and drugs, among other matters.

While there is “coordination” and agencies are looking at “interoperability”, the focus is on rebuilding trust through regular conversations. That trust had cratered after then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons on September 18, 2023, that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar three months earlier in Surrey, British Columbia. India had described the accusations as “absurd” and “motivated.”

Canadian law enforcement remains concerned over the surge in violent incidents linked to extortion in recent times, often attributed to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

On Monday, for instance, the British Columbia Extortion Task Force announced that 21-year-old Avtar Singh had been charged in relation to shots being fired at a residence in Surrey on November 12. Avtar Singh was arrested on December 5.

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