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Canadian intel chief visited India twice to discuss Nijjar case
CSIS director David Vigneault made unannounced visits to India to discuss the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada provided intercepted communications.
New Delhi/Toronto : The head of Canada’s intelligence agency made two unannounced visits to India in the first quarter of this year to meet Indian officials to discuss the killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, people familiar with the matter said.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director David Vigneault travelled to New Delhi in February and March – before Canada announced the arrest of four Indian nationals in connection with Nijjar’s killing – a person in Canada said on condition of anonymity.
This person further claimed that Vigneault provided additional information, including intercepted communications, to his Indian interlocutors.
India-Canada relations went into a tailspin after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons on September 18 last year about “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian government agents and Nijjar’s murder.
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India dismissed Trudeau’s allegation as “absurd” and officials have maintained it is not the government’s policy to engage in acts like the killing of Nijjar, who was gunned down outside a gurdwara in Surrey, 30 km from Vancouver, on June 18 last year. Nijjar was declared a terrorist by India in 2020 and was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The person cited above said the information provided by Vigneault included phone numbers, intercepts of communications using encrypted messaging apps and other information gathered by Canadian investigators. The Canadian side hasn’t made this information public as a substantial part of it was provided by the US, which is Canada’s partner in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, he added.
The Indian side didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A government of Canada official told HT: “We can confirm that the director of CSIS, David Vigneault, has travelled to India but we do not comment on the nature or substance of closed-door meetings.”
The official added: “With that said, since Canada became aware of the credible allegations, we have consistently provided all the information we can to India on the Nijjar case, through multiple channels. This has also been noted by Prime Minister Trudeau and Canada’s minister for public safety on the public record.”
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Officially, the Indian side has maintained that Canada has not provided any evidence regarding Nijjar’s killing. External affairs minister S Jaishankar told a news conference in Mumbai on May 13 that India is open to conducting a probe if Canada has any evidence that is relevant.
“We have never received anything which is specific and worthy of being pursued by our investigative agencies, and I am not aware that anything has changed in the last few days in that regard,” Jaishankar said.
Vigneault’s visits came weeks before Canadian authorities arrested and charged three Indian nationals – Karanpreet Singh, 28, Kamalpreet Singh and Karan Brar, both 22 – for the murder of Nijjar on May 3. Canadian authorities subsequently arrested a fourth Indian identified as 22-year-old Amandeep Singh.
These weren’t the first visits to India by Vigneault in this connection. According to CSIS’ 2023 Public Report, “Vigneault and then National Security Intelligence Advisor, Jody Thomas, travelled to India to discuss the matter with their counterparts.” Those visits were in July and August 2023, prior to Trudeau’s statement in Parliament.
The public report, released in May 2024, accused India of engaging in “hostile foreign interference and espionage activities” in Canada. Canada’s current NSIA, Nathalie Drouin, is not believed to have travelled to India this year.
The report described China, Russia, Iran and India as “major perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage” in Canada. In response to “serious allegations”, Vigneault said “Canada and its allies require accountability from the Government of India concerning its potential involvement in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil”, the report stated.
Vigneault’s visits this year were followed by at least four more trips to India by other Canadian officials, the people said. These other visits coincided with efforts by security officials on both sides to re-establish some sort of working relationship to deal with security threats away from the public spotlight, the people added.
These efforts, however, have been hampered by the rupture in relations between the political leadership, especially at the highest levels, the people said.
A meeting of the India-Canada counter-terrorism working group was scheduled for the first quarter of 2024 but was postponed to May due to the prevailing situation, including an accusation by a Canadian parliamentary panel that India is seen as the second-greatest foreign interference threat after China. The working group’s meeting is now expected to be held later this year.
Behind the scenes diplomacy has continued between the two countries, as Global Affairs Canada, the foreign ministry, wants those conversations to remain private.
The Indian side, however, continues to harbour serious concerns about Canada’s failure to act against provocative activities of Khalistani operatives, such as posters identifying senior Indian diplomats and holding out threats against them, and rallies such as the one outside the Indian consulate this week that featured a float depicting the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. In this context, the people pointed to action taken by the US and Australia – both members of the Five Eyes alliance – to rein in the activities of Khalistani elements.
