A senior Canadian official says Indian Cabinet minister ordered intelligence operations on Canadians
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s deputy foreign minister confirmed a report Tuesday that Canada is alleging that an Indian Cabinet minister and close adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered intelligence-gathering operations targeting Canadians.
The Washington Post first reported that Canadian officials alleged Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists in Canada.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told Parliament members of the national security committee Tuesday that he was the one who confirmed Shah’s name to the newspaper.
“The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee.
Morrison did not say how Canadian authorities know this.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence that agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023.
Canadian authorities have repeatedly said they have shared evidence of that with Indian authorities.
Indian government officials have repeatedly denied Canada has provided evidence and have called the allegations absurd. India’s embassy in Ottawa didn’t immediately respond to messages for a request for comment on the allegation against Shah.
On Oct. 14, Canada expelled the Indian high commissioner a nd five other diplomats, alleging they were persons of interest in multiple cases of coercion, intimidation and violence aimed at quieting a campaign for an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.
Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination on foreign soil. The U.S. Justice