Canadian NSIA: India’s focus may be on pro-Khalistan movement, not policy influence

Toronto: Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) has said that she is not certain if India want to influence Canadian policy and New Delhi may be focused on the pro-Khalistan movement.
Appearing before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions, Canada’s NSIA Nathalie G Drouin said, “The objective of India…I’m not sure if they really want to influence our policy. I think they really want to influence the pro-Khalistan debate and conversation.”
She also said it was important to understand “why India has an interest when it comes to Canada”. This, according to her, was due to the largest diaspora population of whom nearly half were Sikh, and because of “what happened with Air India.”
Until the devastating 9/11 attacks in the US by al-Qaeda, the bombing of Air India flight 182 by Khalistani extremists was the worst aviation-related terrorist attack in history. It remains the worst terror attack in Canadian history, having resulted in the death of all 329 people on board the airliner, including more than 270 Canadian citizens, mostly of Indian origin, and 24 Indians.
She also said Canada expected accountability with regard to the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023 in Surrey, British Columbia. Relations between India and Canada cratered after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons three months later that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder. Earlier this year, four Indian nationals were arrested in connection with the killing and their trial in progress.
India has held that these allegations were “absurd” and “motivated”. Canada has yet to substantiate the allegations in public but the country’s law enforcement continues to probe the link.
When asked about Canada’s expectations from India, Drouin said Ottawa’s “repeated request” is for New Delhi to “take our law enforcement actions seriously instead of denying the situation.” She added that India should “look internally at what happened” and avoid escalating the situation.”
Moreover, she stated that the high-level public inquiry should include the Canadian killing, along with the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Pannun, Nijjar’s close associate and Sikhs for Justice general counsel, in the US, last year.
She further added felt that ranking countries as per the level of threat they posed to Canada was not useful. She was referring to the June 4 report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSCIOP), which stated bluntly that India has “emerged as the second-most significant foreign interference threat to Canada’s democratic institutions and processes” displacing Russia.