New Delhi, Nov 2: India on Saturday said it has protested in the strongest possible terms the references made by a Canadian minister about Union Home Minister Amit Shah and warned that such “absurd and baseless” allegations will have serious consequences for bilateral ties.
The comments by the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came after Canada’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison alleged on Tuesday that Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada.
Morrison had also told Canadian Parliament members of the national security committee that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which first reported the allegations.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said this revelation that high Canadian government officials deliberately leaked unfounded insinuations to international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other nations only confirms the view that the Indian government has long held about the current Canadian government’s political agenda and behavioural pattern.
Replying to queries during a weekly press briefing here, Jaiswal said such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties.
Some of our consular officials under audio, video surveillance: India
India on Saturday accused Canada of indulging in “harassment and intimidation” of Indian consular staff there by putting them under audio and video surveillance in “flagrant violation” of diplomatic conventions.
Responding to a query during a media briefing here, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said India has “formally protested” to the Canadian government.
He was asked about reports claiming that many Indian diplomats in Canada were allegedly under surveillance amid the diplomatic standoff.
“Yes, some of our consular officials were recently informed by the Canadian government that they have been and continued to be under audio and video surveillance. Their communications have also been intercepted. We have formally protested to the Canadian government, as we deem these actions to be in flagrant violation of relevant diplomatic and consular conventions” Jaiswal told reporters.
“By citing technicalities, the Canadian government cannot justify the fact that it is indulging in harassment and intimidation,” he alleged.
The relations between the two countries came under severe strain following Trudeau’s allegations in September last year of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing.
New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd”.
India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.
India has expelled six Canadian diplomats and withdrawn its high commissioner Sanjay Verma and other “targeted” officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa’s charges.
“Our diplomatic and consular personnel are already functioning in an environment of extremism and violence. This action of the Canadian government aggravates the situation, and is incompatible with established diplomatic norms and practices,” Jaiswal said.
Canada names India in cyberthreat list
Canada has for the first time named India in a list of cyberthreat adversaries, suggesting that state-sponsored actors could be spying against it.
Amid an ongoing diplomatic row, India is named fifth after China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026 (NCTA 2025-2026) report.
“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors likely conduct cyber threat activity against Government of Canada networks for the purpose of espionage,” the report said.
The development comes as the bilateral relationship has gone south since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence that agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023, a charge dismissed as absurd by India. (PTI)
