Trudeau Says India Made ‘Fundamental Error,’ Accuses Officials of Engaging in Criminal Activity

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reponds to a question during a news conference in Vientiane, Laos, on Oct. 11, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

After Canada and India conducted tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of making a “fundamental error” of using its officials in Canada to engage in criminal activity.

“India made a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians here on Canadian soil, whether it be murders or extortion or other violent acts,” Trudeau said in a press conference in Ottawa on Oct. 14.

Earlier in the day, the RCMP announced it had discovered the involvement of Indian government agents in “serious criminal activity in Canada.”

Trudeau said this explains why his government is taking “significant measures” and why the RCMP chose to disrupt the activity by speaking about it publicly.

The prime minister said there has been a pattern of Indian diplomats collecting information, through “questionable and illegal means,” which is then passed to criminal organizations to target Canadians for extortion or murder.

“No country, particularly not a democracy, that upholds the rule of law can accept this fundamental violation of its sovereignty,” he said.

Global Affairs Canada announced the expulsion of six Indian diplomats on Oct. 14 in relation to the matter.

“The decision to expel these individuals was made with great consideration and only after the RCMP gathered ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly in a statement.

Pro-Khalistan independence activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom India accused of being a terrorist, was gunned down in the parking lot of a Sikh place of worship in June 2023 in Surrey, B.C. Suspects in his assassination were arrested and charged earlier this year.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs announced on Oct. 14 it was expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner.

New Delhi said it was advised by Ottawa on Oct. 13 that its High Commissioner and other diplomats in Canada were “persons of interest” in a matter related to an investigation.

“The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics,” said the Indian External Affairs Ministry.

A similar diplomatic crisis occurred a little over a year ago, in September 2023, when Trudeau accused India, on the first sitting day of the House of Commons, of having a role in the killing of Nijjar. Diplomatic moves followed on each side, with expulsions and India at one point stopping to process visas for Canadians.

Trudeau said efforts made to obtain India’s cooperation on these matters have not borne fruit. He said Canadian officials took the “extraordinary step” over the weekend to meet with Indian officials to share the RCMP’s evidence indicating that six Indian government agents were persons of interest in criminal activities.

“Despite repeated requests to the government of India, it has decided not to cooperate,” Trudeau said.

The RCMP held a press conference on Oct. 14 to discuss the general outlines of its investigation into Indian government activity.

RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said the police force has uncovered information along four main axes, including the impact of violent extremism in Canada and India, links between Indian government agents and homicides and violent acts, the use of organized crime to create the perception of an unsafe environment, and interference in democratic processes.

Duheme said several Indian diplomats have been involved in “serious criminal activity.”

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin said approximately eight individuals have been arrested and charged in relation to homicides and 22 have been arrested and charged for extortion.

“Some of these have connections to the government of India,” Gauvin said.

The RCMP also said at least 13 individuals in the South Asian community across Canada have been warned of threats to their lives, “specifically members of the pro-Khalistan movement.”

India has long accused Canada of harbouring pro-Khalistan extremists, who seek to create an independent state in India’s Sikh-majority Punjab region.