In a significant development, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has retracted its earlier claims linking India to criminal activity within Canada. In an interview with CTV News, to be aired on March 22, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said, “I’m saying that based on the totality of the files that we have on foreign interference or transnational repression, what we have in our holdings is we have people that are intimidating people, harassing people, but connecting the dots to a foreign entity, regardless of the country, we don’t have that.” He was replying to a question whether transnational repression by Indian agents was still a concern.
In September 2023, then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had alleged that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. India firmly rejected the charge. What followed was a diplomatic freeze, marked by the expulsion of envoys, suspension of visas, and the halting of high-level exchanges.
Clarifying the allegations of the time, Duheme said, “That particular file, at that time, yes, I did say you had agents or proxies from the government (of India)”. He said his statement was prompted by evidence available at the time but current findings did not suggest a foreign link.
When asked about threats issued by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Duheme said many people seemed to be using his name for extortion and there were no confirmed links between the gang’s criminal activities and the Government of India.
It was only after Mark Carney assumed office in March 2025 that bilateral ties between the two countries began to stabilise. Following a visit by India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to Ottawa in February this year, the two sides agreed on a security and law-enforcement workplan, including cooperation on counter-extremism and transnational crime.
Earlier this month, Carney’s visit marked the first visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to India in eight years. By focusing on trade, investment, energy security, supply-chain resilience and talent mobility, Carney’s government signalled its intent to anchor relations in pragmatic, forward-looking cooperation. With an estimated 1.8 million people of Indian origin- Sikhs forming the largest community- and over 400,000 Indian students enrolled in Canadian institutions, the two democracies recognize the importance of building robust bilateral ties.
Leave a Comment