India, Canada resolution talks kick into higher gear
The meetings between the diplomats were a follow-up to meetings between senior Indian and Canadian security officials since the beginning of the year.
Senior Indian and Canadian diplomats have met at least twice in recent months to discuss activities of pro-Khalistan elements in the North American country, with the Indian side raising its concerns about threats held out against its diplomats in Canada, people familiar with the matter said.
The meetings between the diplomats were a follow-up to meetings between senior Indian and Canadian security officials since the beginning of the year that were first reported by HT. While the killing Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year was part of these talks, the dialogue focused on taking forward bilateral ties, including the revival of working group meetings, the people from both sides added on condition of anonymity.
Weldon Epp, the assistant deputy minister at Global Affairs Canada handling the Indo-Pacific region, met secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry, Jaideep Mazumdar, on the margins of Asean-related meetings in the Laos capital of Vientiane in the first week of June, the people said. Both diplomats were in Laos for a meeting of senior officials of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF).
Epp subsequently travelled to New Delhi for another meeting with Mazumdar, the people said. The secretary (East) is responsible for overseeing relations with Canada.
The Indian side raised its concerns about activities of pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, especially threats against Indian diplomats and diplomatic premises, the people said. These concerns were raised in the context of numerous Khalistani activists and groups having been banned under India’s anti-terrorism laws.
During the discussions, the Canadian side informed New Delhi that Ottawa doesn’t approve of anti-India protests by pro-Khalistan elements, which are “lawful but awful”, the people said. That formulation or an iteration of it has been used in other discussions, including those between Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly and her Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, they said.
There was no official word from the Indian side on the meetings.
“Both sides felt there was a need to have a conversation away from the public glare so that important issues could be discussed and ways found to take the relationship forward,” one of the people cited above said.
The talks have mainly been “constructive”, a second person said. “Canada is better sensitised,” this person said, referring to India’s concerns. The outcome has been the sense that “functional joint committees should take place”, the person added.
India has been particularly irked by a series of posters targeting the most senior Indian diplomats in Canada, including high commissioner Sanjay Verma. Newer versions have featured the Indian Prime Minister and Cabinet members, including Jaishankar. India has also complained, including through notes verbale or unsigned diplomatic correspondence, to Canada’s foreign ministry about floats depicting the assassination of late prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Meanwhile, the next hearing in the case against the four men – Karan Brar, 22, Kamalpreet Singh, 22, Karanpreet Singh, 28, and Amandeep Singh, 22 – accused of involvement in the killing of Nijjar is scheduled for October 1, the people said. Canadian prosecutors are expected to present evidence running into thousands of pages at the hearing, they added.
This is expected to result in a continuance of several weeks to allow the defence to study the evidence, the people said.
Nijjar, shot dead in Surrey on June 18 last year, was declared a terrorist by India in 2020. New Delhi dismissed as “absurd” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September 2023 of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of the Khalistani activist.
The meetings between the diplomats of the two sides followed two unannounced visits to India by former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director David Vigneault in February and March. Vigneault subsequently met a senior Indian intelligence official in a third country twice after the Lok Sabha elections, as first reported by HT. The Indian envoy met Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) Nathalie G Drouin four times this year.
While testifying before the Canadian House of Commons standing committee on foreign affairs in February 2024, Epp said the two countries “had long-standing exchanges on (Khalistani separatism), and in some cases we’ve been able to advance those exchanges through structures”.