Canada’s charges based on Indian intel & Five Eye inputs

Toronto: Canada’s allegations of India’s involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist in Surrey that sparked a diplomatic row between the two nations are based on both human and signals intelligence and inputs from an ally from Ottawa’s Five Eye intelligence network, a media report has said citing the Canadian government sources.

Tensions flared between India and Canada early this week following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s explosive allegations of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on his country’s soil on June 18 in British Columbia.

India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India angrily rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

The Canadian government has amassed both human and signals intelligence in a months-long investigation of the Sikh man’s death that has inflamed relations with India, CBC News, a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, reported on Thursday quoting sources.

That intelligence includes communications involving Indian officials themselves, including Indian diplomats present in Canada, say Canadian government sources.

The intelligence did not come solely from Canada. Some were provided by an unnamed ally in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, the public broadcaster said.

Canada is part of a ‘Five Eyes’ network which is an intelligence alliance consisting of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The report said the diplomatic crisis unfolded progressively behind the scenes.

Canadian officials went to India on several occasions seeking cooperation in the investigation of Nijjar’s death, the report claimed. Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Adviser Jody Thomas was in India over four days in midAugust, then again for five days in September.

That last visit overlapped with a tense meeting between Prime Minister Trudeau and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, it said.

“Canadian sources say that when pressed behind closed doors, no Indian official has denied the bombshell allegation at the core of this case - that there is evidence to suggest Indian government involvement in the assassination of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil,” it added.

Canada is weighing retaliation but has taken no decision yet, said government sources in Ottawa.

On Thursday, India asked Canada to come down hard on terrorists and anti-India elements operating from its soil and suspended visa services for Canadians, as escalating tensions between the two nations over the killing of Nijjar pushed their ties to an all-time low.

India also asked Canada to downsize its diplomatic staff in the country, arguing that there should be parity in strength and rank equivalence in the mutual diplomatic presence.

The size of Canadian diplomatic staff in India is larger than what New Delhi has in Canada. When asked about the intelligence reports, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said she couldn’t comment without risking the investigation and Canada’s obligations to its Five Eyes partners. (PTI)