The RCMP in a news release says it has multiple ongoing investigations into the involvement of agents of the Government of India in serious criminal activity in Canada. The RCMP says this includes homicides, extortion, clandestine information gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians and other criminal acts of violence.
The RCMP along with the National Security and Intelligence Adviser and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs met with officials of the Government of India on the weekend to present evidence. A statement from the Prime Minister’s office says the evidence concluded six agents of the Government of India are persons of interest in criminal activities. And despite repeated requests to the Government of India, our government says the Indian government has decided not to co-operate. Consequently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs issued a deportation notice for these individuals.
The RCMP says they have evidence of violent extremism impacting both countries; links tying agents of the Government of India (GOI) to homicides and violent acts; the use of organized crime to create a perception of an unsafe environment targeting the South Asian Community in Canada; and interference into democratic processes.
Justin Trudeau says, “Canada will always defend the rule of law and the fundamental principles on which free and democratic societies are based. We urge the Government of India to do the same.”
In the spring the province announced that India will provide full diplomatic accreditation for the Managing Director of the Saskatchewan India office. This was after September 2023 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian intelligence services were investigating “credible” information about “a potential link” between India’s government and the killing of a Sikh leader in British Columbia. Forty-one Canadian diplomatic staff, including the province’s representative, were required to leave the country after diplomatic relations between Canada and India deteriorated.
In 2023, total Canadian exports to India were valued at $5.1 billion – more than $1.3 billion worth of product coming directly from Saskatchewan, with $700 million of that tied to agri-food exports. For the first two months of 2024, Saskatchewan’s exports to India have increased by 600 per cent, year-over-year. The province’s top five exports to India are lentils, potash, wood pulp, peas and non-durum wheat.
