PMO won't say if Carney raised India's alleged role in killing of Canadian Sikh leader with Modi

Globe and Mail

6 hours ago

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says Ottawa continues to have 'difficult conversations' with New Delhi about the 2023 killing of a Canadian Sikh leader, but the Prime Minister's Office has declined to say if the matter was raised earlier this week in talks between Mark Carney and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.
Mr. Carney ducked a question Tuesday about whether he and Mr. Modi had discussed the killing of the Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, during a one-on-one meeting that day at the G7 leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alta.
The Globe and Mail pressed the PMO on Wednesday about whether Mr. Nijjar's slaying and Indian foreign interference were part of the discussions. Sikh organizations and human-rights activists have also sought clarification on the content of the discussion.
Press secretary Audrey Champoux would not comment on Wednesday. She referred The Globe to a statement the two leaders released Tuesday: 'Prime Minister Carney raised priorities on the G7 agenda, including transnational crime and repression, security, and the rules-based order.'
After the meeting, the two leaders announced that they would designate new high commissioners and restore regular diplomatic services to citizens in both countries.
Bilateral relations went into a deep freeze in 2024, after then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and the RCMP said there was evidence linking agents of the Modi government to Mr. Nijjar's slaying.
Canada expelled the Indian high commissioner and five other diplomats over the killing. India denied any role and responded with similar diplomatic expulsions.
On Wednesday, the Public Safety Minister was asked to explain why Canada is resetting relations with the Modi government despite the Nijjar killing, and when Canada's spy agency is saying India is one of the top perpetrators of foreign interference in this country.
Mr. Anandasangaree told reporters that Canada has 'had difficult conversations with the Indian government and that will continue.'
'There is no way in which a third country can come into Canada and … using proxies be involved in the murder of a Canadian, and we have expressed our concerns over many months, and we will continue to do so,' he said.
A year after Hardeep Singh Nijjar's death, mysteries remain about how he really lived
Gurpatwant Pannun, general counsel for Sikhs for Justice, said the Prime Minister needs to publicly tell Canadians whether he questioned Mr. Modi about the role of Indian agents in the killing of Mr. Nijjar. The FBI foiled an alleged Indian plot to kill Mr. Pannun, a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen, in New York City last year.
'Accountability for Nijjar's killing cannot be sidestepped in the name of diplomacy or trade. Diplomatic normalization with the Modi regime must not come at the expense of justice and transparency,' Mr. Pannun said.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan, an outspoken human-rights activist, said in a June 17 letter to Mr. Carney that re-establishing diplomatic normalcy with India when it has yet to account for its role in the death of Mr. Nijjar 'sends a deeply painful message to Sikh Canadians who continue to live under threat.'
Major Sikh organizations and human-rights advocates also wrote a separate letter to Mr. Carney on Tuesday, saying the Nijjar killing was part of a co-ordinated campaign of transnational repression that 'continues to violate Canadian sovereignty.'
'Sikhs across the country are still receiving warnings from intelligence agencies about active threats to their lives,' the open letter states. 'To extend an invitation to the architect of these policies who proudly boasts that India 'enters the homes of its enemies and kills them' − without any public commitment to justice or accountability, undermines the very principles Canada is meant to uphold.'
However, foreign policy and security experts say Mr. Carney made the right decision to restart diplomatic relations with the world's most populous country and fourth-largest economy, while still pursuing accountability for the Nijjar killing.
If the Prime Minister is serious about diversifying trade away from the United States then he can't ignore India or China, said Jonathan Berkshire Miller, senior fellow and director of foreign affairs, national defence and national security at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
'We cannot afford diplomatic silence with a country so vital to the Indo-Pacific and global affairs,' he said. 'Diplomacy is not about agreeing on everything – it's about managing differences.'
Alan Jones, a former assistant director at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service who is executive adviser at the University of Ottawa Professional Development Institute, said there's no excuse for India going rogue and plotting murder.
But Mr. Carney is right not to take a 'sanctimonious' position and ignore the geopolitical and trade role that India plays in the world, he said.
'Carney is a businessman at heart and this is a business decision. I'm sure he knows full well that he will take some heat and be criticized for it. But at some point, you have to turn the page.'
Mr. Jones said Mr. Carney campaigned on fixing the economy and getting the country on stable economic, defence and security footing. 'I think most Canadians understand that,' he said.