NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE {I} ndia, with its 1.4 billion people, has now surpassed China in population. More than one out of six of the world’s people live there, and in 2027 India is projected to become the third-largest economy in the world, after the U.S. and China.

That’s why the United States is trying so hard to make India a vital partner in blocking China’s growing aggression in Asia.

But such efforts have to take into account a huge fly in the ointment of India’s relationship with the West. Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government is becoming more authoritarian, backsliding on its enforcement of the rule of law, civil rights, religious freedom, and a free press.

Last month came a shocking wake-up call. Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, told his parliament that authorities had “credible reasons to believe that agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil.” He was referring to the June killing of a Sikh Canadian activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, outside his place of worship near Vancouver, British Columbia.

At least six men and two vehicles were involved in the killing, suggesting a larger and more organized operation than initial reports had suggested.

The allegations of India’s involvement were based in part on information gathered by one of Canada’s partners in the intelligence-sharing alliance known as Five Eyes (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand). The allegations include credible evidence that the killing was discussed by Indian diplomats based in Canada. The New York Times reported that American intelligence provided the contextual information while the Canadians intercepted the “smoking gun” communication of the Indian diplomats.

Canadian intelligence officials are especially sensitive about the Nijjar killing because, before his death, they warned him and five other Sikh community leaders that their lives were in danger. “They told us that we were at imminent risk of assassination, but they would never say specifically that the threat was from Indian intelligence or give us enough information to tell us where it was coming from,” Moninder Singh, a spokesman for the British Columbian Sikhs, told the Intercept.

India has lashed out and stopped processing requests for visitor visas from Canada. A spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement to reporters that Canada has a growing reputation as a” safe haven for terrorists, for extremists and for organized crime.” India claims that Canada has long harbored Sikh separatists, including Nijjar. According to India, Nijjar is a terrorist who has stirred up violence in support of a separate Sikh homeland.

The United States has been swept into the dispute. In a direct conversation with Prime Minister Modi at the G-20 summit meeting in New Delhi last month, President Biden expressed his concern over Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing.

Biden has reason to be concerned about Sikh dissidents being targeted in the U.S. After Nijjar’s killing, two FBI agents visited Pritpal Singh, a U.S. citizen living in California, to tell him, the Guardian reported, that they had “a duty to warn him” his life was in danger.

Singh later observed a car surveilling his home and says the head of India’s intelligence agency had attempted to contact and coerce him. Singh is the founder of the American Sikh Caucus Committee, which closely works with more than 50 members of Congress and advocates religious freedom globally.

“If India can target Canadians, Americans will be next,” Pritpal Singh told the Intercept. “This undermines our democratic institutions, curtails individual rights and freedoms, and challenges the national security and sovereignty of the United States.”

There have been other threats on U.S. soil. Two of Pritpal Singh’s associates received similar warnings. In addition, New York–based journalist Amarjit Singh says he received an FBI warning after the death of Nijjar in Canada. “It was a warning. They said no travel, just keep yourself safe,” he told the Guardian.

The U.S. and India have a common interest in containing China but don’t automatically share the same values. America has an obligation to insist on transparency in the relationship and should step up efforts to get India to behave less like a rogue nation and more in accord with the democratic values it professes.

Congress should seek a full briefing from the intelligence community on the killing in Canada and ensure that American citizens are fully protected. A new bipartisan bill has been introduced in the Senate by Republican Marco Rubio of Florida and Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon. It would toughen penalties against and better define the ways in which countries seek to intimidate or repress critics in other countries.

Pritpal Singh has a message for the White House. As he told the Intercept: “From the Biden administration, we expect immediate support. We do not want thoughts and prayers later.”