Canada and India are reportedly set to announce a new intelligence-sharing initiative after years of bad blood stemming from assassinations in the North American country linked to the Indian government.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kananaskis, Alberta, on Monday to join fellow world leaders at the G7 summit, where his Ministry of Foreign Affairs said he intends to discuss “crucial global issues, including energy security, technology and innovation, particularly the AI-energy nexus and Quantum-related issues.”
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Not listed in that statement was an anti-terrorism intelligence sharing agreement with Canada, which a report from Bloomberg alleged could be announced by the end of the summit.
Reports of an Indian-Canadian information-sharing agreement claim the nations’ law enforcement will be empowered to swap information on terrorism, extremist groups, and international crime syndicates.
Such an arrangement would be a shocking reset to foreign relations between the two countries after the Canadian government alleged India was involved in political assassinations on its soil.
Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an Indian-born Canadian national, was fatally shot in June 2023 while sitting in his vehicle outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. He was a prominent voice in the Khalistan movement — an international campaign to establish a Sikh ethnostate in Punjab.
The Khalistan movement is banned as an illegal separatist ideology in India, but it remains active among the Sikh diaspora, especially in Canada, where Sikhs make up 2% of the population.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched an investigation that found Indian government officials inside and outside the country were linked to the killing of Nijjar.
“Investigations have revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada leveraged their official positions to engage in clandestine activities, such as collecting information for the government of India, either directly or through their proxies; and other individuals who acted voluntarily or through coercion,” Commissioner Mike Duheme said in 2024.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly affirmed the RCMP’s allegations, saying the Indian government was involved in “homicides, extortion and violent acts” against the Khalistan movement.
THE G7 SUMMIT: WHO AND WHAT TO KNOW
India denied the allegations and accused the Canadian government of carrying a “political agenda” against it.
Danish Singh, president of the World Sikh Organization, denounced Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney‘s decision to invite Modi to the G7 summit this week.
“Prime Minister Carney’s decision to invite Narendra Modi, while India continues to deny any role in the assassination of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar and refuses to cooperate with Canadian authorities, is both shameful and dangerous,” Singh said in a statement.
He added, “We would never welcome leaders from Russia, China, or Iran under such circumstances. Yet India has done far more on Canadian soil in terms of foreign interference and transnational repression, including orchestrating murders, and is being rewarded with a red carpet welcome.”
Carney was pressed by a reporter this week about his decision to invite Modi despite the government’s claims of transnational foul play. He implied that a development was forthcoming in the case but stopped short of expanding on the details.
“There is a legal process that is literally underway and quite advanced in Canada,” the prime minister said. “It’s never appropriate to make comments with respect to those legal processes.”
The G7 summit, which marks the group’s 50th anniversary, is set to run through Tuesday.
Carney is joined by President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also attend to represent the European Union, which is a “nonenumerated member.”
India was just one of several nonmember nations invited to attend the summit. Other guest countries include Mexico, Ukraine, South Africa, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Modi will arrive in Canada immediately after wrapping up a visit to Cyprus. Following the visit, he will travel to Croatia — the first-ever visit by an Indian prime minister to the country.