New 'Khalistan embassy' in Canada threatens India-Canada ties again

Business Standard

4 days ago

Just as India and Canada were making cautious moves to improve strained ties, visuals of an 'Embassy of the Republic of Khalistan' on Canadian soil have risked derailing hard-earned diplomatic progress.
Radical Sikh groups in British Columbia have established what they describe as the 'Embassy of the Republic of Khalistan'. Photographs accessed by India Today show that the self-proclaimed embassy is located inside a section of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey.
The same gurdwara was once led by Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan figure whom Indian authorities had labelled a terrorist. Nijjar was shot dead in 2023 in the gurdwara's car park, setting off a chain of events that pushed India-Canada relations into a deep freeze.
The announcement of the so-called 'embassy' coincides with preparations for a 'Khalistan referendum' organised by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a group banned in India. According to reports, Indian security agencies are keeping a close watch.
Diplomatic thaw under threat
The development comes at a time when ties between the two countries had shown tentative signs of a thaw. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canada's newly-elected Prime Minister Mark Carney met face-to-face during the G7 summit earlier this year — their first such meeting since tensions escalated.
Both sides had indicated a willingness to move beyond the fallout from Nijjar's killing and the allegations made by former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had accused the Indian government of involvement in the murder — a charge New Delhi has firmly denied.
Canadian intelligence backs India's security concerns
India has long raised concerns about Khalistani groups using Canadian soil as a safe haven for promoting separatist ideology, fundraising, and plotting acts of violence. It has consistently criticised Canadian authorities for alleged inaction.
In a notable shift, Canadian authorities have acknowledged these concerns. In June 2025, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) officially recognised the threat posed by Khalistani extremists operating within Canada.
Its annual report stated: 'Khalistani extremists continue to use Canada as a base for the promotion, fundraising or planning of violence primarily in India.' While no attacks linked to Canada-based Khalistani extremists (CBKEs) occurred in 2024, CSIS warned that such actors remain active in global financing and operational planning.
This marked the first time the Canadian government has officially used the term 'extremism' in the context of the Khalistan movement.
CSIS described Canada-based Khalistani extremists as a core element of the country's politically motivated violent extremism (PMVE) threat. According to the agency, PMVE groups aim to use violence to create new political systems or structures, often through cross-border efforts.
Khalistani actors, the agency warned, continue to engage in 'planning, financing and facilitating attacks globally' in pursuit of a separate Khalistan state, primarily carved out of India's Punjab region.