The governments of Canada and India are set to establish a new structure to share information about cross-border crimes, their latest step toward rebuilding ties nearly two years after Canadian officials accused India of orchestrating the murder of a Sikh activist near Vancouver.
The new information-sharing arrangement, which includes law enforcement agencies from both countries, will allow them to swap intelligence on transnational crime and syndicates, terrorism and extremist activities, according to officials who asked not to be identified because the discussions are still private. For Canada, this also includes an emphasis on investigating extra-judicial killings.
The officials said the details of the accord are still being worked on, and it’s not yet known if the agreement will be publicly announced at the Group of Seven summit, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Mark Carney are scheduled to meet.
As of Friday, Modi was still expected to make the trip to Canada despite the Air India plane crash on Thursday that killed all but one of the 242 people aboard and the conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched strikes on Iran. But Modi’s plans could still change.
“The forthcoming meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G-7 summit will offer an important opportunity to exchange views on bilateral and global issues,” Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said Thursday in New Delhi.
Relations between the two countries have been rocky since 2023, when then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused India of killing a Sikh separatist leader outside a temple in Surrey, British Columbia. The Indian government denied involvement, calling the allegations absurd, and has blamed Canada for harboring Sikh separatist groups.
Canadian police have also accused the Indian government of homicides and extortion of Sikh Canadians.
Both India and Canada expelled each other’s diplomats, cut down on visa approvals and downgraded their diplomatic relationship. Despite that, the security establishments of both nations have remained in touch and continued to exchange information, Bloomberg News has previously reported.
Relationship Reset
The new mechanism will be more robust in scope and will involve higher-level officials than previous efforts between the two countries to share security information. It will begin largely as a conversation among police forces, but may expand over time to include other agencies, officials said.
Recently, Canada and India have taken initial steps toward resuming warmer diplomatic relations, including a congratulatory message from Modi on Carney’s election victory as well as phone calls between the leaders. Carney invited Modi to the G-7 meeting, another signal that he’s carving a new path for Canadian foreign policy and trying to mend ties with countries that Trudeau and his ministers quarreled with — including China and Saudi Arabia.
Jaiswal said the Modi-Carney meeting will allow both nations to “explore pathways to reset the relationship based on mutual respect, shared interests and sensitivity to each other’s concerns.” Carney has said one of his priorities for the G-7 summit is “countering foreign interference and transnational crime.”
Restoring relations and improving trade have become a priority for both nations as President Donald Trump’s tariffs unsettle global commerce.
Though the South Asian country is not a member of the G-7, India has attended the summit 12 times.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada, a group that advocates for the country’s large Sikh diaspora, has protested Modi’s invitation to the meeting, as have some members of parliament, including inside Carney’s own Liberal Party.
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