Top officials in Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration reportedly shared sensitive intelligence about India with The Washington Post, just days before the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) publicly linked Indian government agents to the killing of Canadian Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, according to a report by The Globe and Mail.
Sources revealed that Nathalie Drouin, Trudeau’s national security and intelligence adviser, and David Morrison, deputy minister at Global Affairs, briefed the US-based newspaper about India’s alleged interference in Canada a week before the Canadian Thanksgiving.
The officials requested that the information not be published until RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme held a press conference on Thanksgiving Day.
On the day of the press conference, The Washington Post reported that Canadian authorities had implicated India in the murder of Sukhdool Singh Gill, also known as Sukha Duneke, a former gangster with links to Khalistani extremism.
The Washington Post report, citing Canadian officials, claimed that top Indian government figures had authorised actions against Khalistani figures in Canada.
It also reported on Canadian officials sharing information with India’s National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, which allegedly linked Indian Home Minister Amit Shah and a senior official in India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) to intelligence-gathering operations and attacks on pro-Khalistani figures in Canada.
This followed Trudeau’s earlier public accusation that India was involved in Nijjar’s murder in Surrey, British Columbia, a charge India has categorically denied.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded strongly to the allegations, accusing Trudeau of using the claims to advance his domestic political agenda and criticising the Canadian government for making accusations without presenting evidence.
However, during the 14 October press conference, Commissioner Duheme did not link Gill’s killing in Winnipeg to India or provide additional sensitive classified information mentioned by The Washington Post.
Despite these claims, spokespeople for both Drouin and Morrison have denied that any classified information was shared.
This controversy comes amid rapidly deteriorating relations between India and Canada. Following Trudeau’s accusations regarding the Nijjar case, both countries expelled diplomats. India has rejected the allegations, recalling its High Commissioner to Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and expelling six Canadian diplomats from New Delhi.
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