Now Canada had credible evidence agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023, and Shah was the architect of the campaign against Sikhs in the country. Nathalie Drouin said that Canada has evidence the Indian government first gathered information on Indian nationals and Canadian citizens in Canada through diplomatic channels and proxies. She said the information was then passed to the government in New Delhi, which allegedly works with a criminal network affiliated with Lawrence Bishnoi. His vast criminal network has been linked to homicides, assassination plots, coercion and other violent crimes in Canada.
Besides, most recently the U.S. authorities filed charges against a former Indian intelligence operative for his role in the hire-for-murder plot foiled by the FBI. At every opportunity, U.S. spokespersons insist that India must cooperate with the Canadian investigation and that the U.S. would like to see meaningful accountability.
India is judging that it is more powerful and influential in the global order than Canada, which is a member of NATO, the Five Eyes, the G-7, and the G-20. India has thus adopted a combative posture. It is also betting that Canada cannot do much economic damage to India, even though the Canadians have huge investments in India that they could withdraw and have already stalled discussions about a possible free trade agreement. India also seems confident that other Western nations will not undermine their growing relationships with India for Canada.
The most import is that, recently hundreds were spotted waving Indian flags walk on the street, blocking traffic in both directions. Demonstrations, including anti-Canada protests, could occur at any time and Canadians may be subjected to intimidation or harassment. “We judge that official bilateral relations between Canada and India will very likely drive Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activity against Canada,” the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said in its annual threat report published Wednesday, adding that such hackers are probably already conducting cyber-espionage. It’s time for Canada to take Bhai Nijjar case to International Court of Justice.
