Explained: This article explains the political background, key decisions, and possible outcomes related to Explained : No exemptions for India on foreign interference concerns, Anand says and Its Impact and why it matters right now.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand speaks with reporters in Mumbai, on Saturday. Ms. Anand declined to clarify whether she believes India is still conducting foreign interference in Canada.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
No country including India gets a free pass to conduct foreign interference in Canada, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said as she began a trade promotion trip to the subcontinent following controversial comments from Ottawa this past week.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet has been under pressure to clarify whether they agree with a senior Canadian government official who told reporters in a background briefing last week that India is no longer involved in conducting foreign interference and transnational repression in Canada.
This statement was immediately challenged by national security experts who questioned the veracity of this intelligence as Canada tries to repair damaged relations with the South Asian country of 1.4-billion.
PM urged to clarify whether he believes India still carrying out interference in Canada
Ms. Anand also declined to say whether she agrees with a top government official who told reporters Wednesday that “if we believed that the government of India was actively interfering in the Canadian democratic process, we probably would not be taking this trip.” The Globe is not identify the senior official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The foreign minister, however, said she shares the concerns about safeguarding Canada from ongoing foreign interference.
“No country has a pass when it comes to Canadian public safety and security,” she told reporters in Mumbai. “That is the reason why we’ve listed the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity,” she said of the India crime syndicate. “That is the reason why we ordered senior Indian diplomats and government officials to leave our country,” the minister said, referring to 2024 expulsions.
Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal on Thursday condemned the senior Canadian official’s remarks about no further interference from India in Canada. “This view is disconnected from the reality confronting members of the Sikh community across Canada and contradicts assessments by national-security and law-enforcement agencies.”
Mr. Carney’s government is trying to repair relations with India after several years of a diplomatic freeze during which former prime minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of playing a role in the murder of a Canadian Sikh activist and Indian diplomats of being part of a campaign of violence against Canadians.
Only 16 months ago, Canada expelled Sanjay Verma, who was then India’s high commissioner in Canada, and five other Indian diplomats. The RCMP had deemed them “persons of interest” in an investigation probing what the force described as a campaign of alleged violence, extortion and intimidation directed at the Sikh diaspora by agents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Ms. Anand said Canada is putting in place guardrails to combat foreign interference, including a registry of agents acting for foreign governments.
She defended Canada’s warming relations with India as Mr. Carney seeks new markets and foreign investors to reduce reliance on the increasingly protectionist United States under President Donald Trump.
India’s foreign policy of “strategic autonomy” means instead of aligning with any single global power bloc it engages with competing powers to serve its national interests.
India for instance, has a friendly relationship with Russia – and robust energy and arms trade – and Mr. Modi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin last December where he praised their “deep and unbreakable relationship.”
By comparison, Canada has spent more than $25-billion in recent years to help ally Ukraine fight off Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in 2022.
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Asked how far Canada and India’s relationship can progress given New Delhi’s warm relations with Russia, Ms. Anand said diplomacy today means talking to other countries despite disagreements.
“We actually have to be able to advocate. Diplomacy is not about hiding under a rock and saying, ‘I am not going to deal with you because of the actions of your government.’ Diplomacy, in my view, is very much about sitting at the table, having conversations that are difficult, but conversations that represent Canadian interests.”
Jody Thomas, who served as national security adviser under Mr. Trudeau, has said she does not have access to current government intelligence, but that she finds it hard to believe that “things have resolved themselves to the point described” in reports of the briefing for media.
“It would be lovely to know that all of the threats and the interference have ended,” Ms. Thomas said. “That would be a really positive thing.” But, she added, “it would surprise me.”
Stephanie Carvin, a former national security analyst and now a professor at Carleton University, said she does not believe Indian meddling in Canada has ended.
“India has been engaged in foreign interference in Canada since the 1980s. It did not stop this week because of a few official exchanges,” Prof. Carvin said.
She also criticized the message from the briefing.
“It is concerning to see foreign interference being downplayed in this way by a senior Canadian official. It seems to be bordering on the politicization of intelligence,” Prof. Carvin said.
She said the Public Inquiry on Foreign Interference, which issued its final report in 2025, warned against politicization of intelligence stemming, Prof. Carvin said, “either from ignorance of the threat or blind opportunism – neither of which is good.”