India, Canada resume talks to reset relations
Discussions between the two sides through diplomatic and security channels resumed around December,
Toronto/New Delhi: India and Canada have resumed contacts between security agencies and are eyeing the possibility of appointing new high commissioners, paving the way for a reset of diplomatic ties after the storm over the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, people familiar with the matter said.
Discussions between the two sides through diplomatic and security channels resumed around December, after the relationship went through another rough patch in October, when India withdrew its high commissioner and five other diplomats who were declared “persons of interest” in the investigation into Nijjar’s killing and expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.
The Indian side considered a handful of diplomats for the position of the envoy in Ottawa and India’s ambassador to Spain, Dinesh K Patnaik, has emerged as a front-runner, the people familiar with ongoing conversations on both sides said on condition of anonymity.
Patnaik, an officer of the 1990 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, is one of India’s most senior diplomats and served as deputy envoy to the UK during 2016-2018, a position that required comprehension of the Khalistan problem within the diaspora, as is the case with Canada.
Ottawa’s candidate for the post of high commissioner in New Delhi continues to be Christopher Cooter, who was till recently the envoy to South Africa, the people said. Cooter’s name was proposed earlier by Canada and it was cleared in principle by India in mid-2024.
There was no word from Indian officials on these developments. The people cited above said there is still no clarity on how soon the two sides will go ahead with the appointments as there is a thinking in some quarters that the posting of envoys should be preceded by a meeting of the top leadership of both sides to signal the resetting of relations.
With Canada chairing the G7 in 2025, a possible opportunity for a meeting between the top leadership of both sides could be the summit to be held in Alberta in June, the people said. However, there is no indication as yet whether India will be invited as a partner country, as has been the case with recent G7 Summits.
The exit of Justin Trudeau, who triggered the diplomatic row over the Nijjar killing by alleging in September 2023 that Indian government agents were linked to the murder, and his replacement with Mike Carney as the Canadian Prime Minister, too, has paved the way for improving ties, they said.
However, there may still be complications ahead. The trial of four Indian men accused in Nijjar’s killing is currently underway in the British Columbia supreme court in New Westminster. In addition, Canada’s federal election is imminent and the direction of restoring ties will be dictated by the next Prime Minister, whether it is incumbent Carney or Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. While the poll is scheduled for October, it may be advanced to spring, according to Canadian media.
Carney has already said he wants improved ties with India, specifically in trade. As he campaigned for the ruling Liberal Party’s leadership this month, he said, “What Canada will be looking to do is to diversify our trading relationships with like-minded countries and there are opportunities to rebuild the relationship with India.”
Contacts between security authorities of both sides too have picked up pace since late last year, the people said. This followed a rupture after a difficult meeting between National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and his Canadian counterpart Nathalie Drouin in Singapore last October.
In January, a team from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) met Indian law enforcement officials, including representatives of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), in New Delhi. Two persons familiar with those talks said they included cooperation to tackle organised criminal gangs and the Khalistan issue, besides the Nijjar investigation.
In February, ED raided the Mohali and Chandigarh residences of Simran Preet Panesar, considered a fugitive by Canada in connection with the country’s biggest ever gold heist of $22.5 million at Toronto’s Pearson Airport in April 2024. The raids came two days after ED registered a money laundering case in connection with the heist.
“The conversations on this track, especially on tackling organised crime, have been good,” one person said.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) chief Daniel Rogers was among intelligence and security officials from some 20 countries who attended a security conclave hosted by Doval on March 16 – another signal of the resumption of security contacts.
CSIS took the unusual step of confirming Rogers’s trip to the media. “He will meet with a range of partners, including from across the Indo-Pacific, as the region is a critical and growing priority for CSIS and the government of Canada, to discuss a variety of shared areas of interest,” a CSIS spokesperson told Canada’s National Post.
The Canadian team also attended a meeting of senior officials of the “Five Eyes” alliance – which includes the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand – while in New Delhi, the people said.
India’s former high commissioner Sanjay Verma was among the six diplomats withdrawn by New Delhi last October, when Canada sought the waiver of diplomatic immunity on them for questioning related to “violent criminal activity”. Canada’s last high commissioner to New Delhi, Cameron Mackay, left the post last summer.
These developments deepened the crisis that began on September 18, 2023, when Trudeau said in the House of Commons there were “credible allegations” of a link between Indian agents and the killing of Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia. India rubbished the allegation as “absurd” and maintained that Canada has never provided evidence to back up its accusation.
Trudeau’s subsequent departure cleared the principal hurdle to repairing the broken relationship, the people said.