Minister says ‘more work to be done’ with India after Canadian official says it is no longer a threat.
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Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says there is more work to be done on India’s security file – a day after a senior government official said Ottawa no longer believes the country is linked to foreign and domestic meddling. oppression.
“There are certainly issues around the safety and security of Canadians that we continue to engage in,” Anandasangaree said after an event near Parliament Hill on Thursday morning.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as part of a press conference ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit this week, reiterated the government’s belief that India has changed its ways.
“I think we can say that we are sure that the project is not continuing,” said the official. “If we believed that the Indian government was interfering in Canada’s democratic process, we would not be taking this trip.”
Anandasangaree, whose portfolio includes the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), stopped short of disagreeing with that interpretation.
What I am suggesting is that there is still a lot of work to be done, and we will do that work,” he said.
The official’s comments to reporters Wednesday signaled a departure from Canada’s position a year and a half ago when the Trudeau government expelled six Indian politicians after the RCMP deemed them “persons of interest.”
In the fall of 2024, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said Mounties had strong evidence showing the “highest levels” of the Indian government were involved in planning a campaign of violence and intimidation on Canadian soil.
The year before that, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada had evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of Canadian Sikh Separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
New Delhi has long denied those allegations.
Just this week a prominent Canadian Sikh activist, Moninder Singh, says he was given a fourth warning letter by Vancouver police about credible threats to his life.
Singh was a close associate of Nijjar.
And a January 20205 report from the foreign interference investigation called India “the second most active country in foreign election meddling in Canada” after China, raising doubts that I.India’s days of foreign interference are behind them.
“Of course we have had issues over the years, and they will be addressed through our security procedures,” Anandasangaree said.
“The issues in the courts will continue to be heard in the courts and the solution will be discussed by the court and not by politics.”
Carney’s trip comes as his government works adjust relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who leads one of the largest economies in the world.
The public security minister said there are two tracks of cooperation with India.
“One thing is to ensure that we work with the prime minister on the economy. But sometimes we will have difficult discussions about the safety and security of Canadians,” he said.
