FOUR days after Nathalie Drouin, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security and intelligence adviser, admitted that she was the one who leaked the information that Canada believed that Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah was behind the violence unleashed against Khalistan supporters in Canada to The Washington Post, India finally reacted by calling the allegation “absurd and baseless.”
It seemed rather bizarre that it took so long for the Indian government to react to such a serious development.
On Saturday, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman of India’s External Affairs Minister, spoke to the media in New Delhi on several Canada-India issues, reading from what were obviously prepared statements, with some Indian reporters asking the very questions that the statements addressed.
Reading from his notes, Jaiswal said: “We had summoned the representative of the Canadian High Commission [Friday]. A diplomatic note was handed over in reference to the proceedings of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa on October 29, 2024. It was conveyed in the note that the Government of India protests in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union home minister of India before the committee by deputy minister David Morrison.
“In fact, the revelation that high Canadian officials deliberately leak unfounded insinuations to the international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other nations only confirms the view government of India has long held about the current Canadian government’s political agenda and behavioural pattern. Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties.”
ON Tuesday, Drouin told the Commons public safety committee that she was the one who leaked that information to The Washington Post.
She told the committee she did not require Trudeau’s authorization for the leak and added that no classified intelligence was provided to the newspaper.
The information also linked India to the September 20, 2023 murder of Sikh activist Sukhdool Singh Gill in Winnipeg.
(On Wednesday, U.S. State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller told the media: “The allegations made by the Government of Canada are concerning, and we will continue to consult with the Canadian Government about those allegations.”)
Drouin said the leak was a strategy that she and David Morrison, deputy minister of foreign affairs, adopted to ensure a major U.S. publication got Canada’s side of the story. She also provided a similar briefing to federal opposition leaders.
When Conservative public safety critic Raquel Dancho insisted on knowing why Canadians had to learn this information from the Washington Post, Morrison said: “The journalist called me and asked if it was that person and I confirmed it was that person.”
Drouin also spoke about Ottawa’s back-channel efforts to convince India that Canadian authorities had credible evidence against their diplomats and criminal proxies.
The RCMP asked the government for an all-out effort to convince India to end its hostile campaign. There were 13 Canadians that were in imminent danger and the scale of India’s activities could not be stopped solely by law enforcement.
Drouin said: “Serious crimes committed in Canada include homicides, assassination plots and perpetuated extortion and other extreme violence. Given how alarming the evidence was, we knew we had to act and to act quickly.”
Drouin said the RCMP asked to travel to New Delhi on October 8 to present evidence but India “used an administrative technicality to block this meeting.” The RCMP then travelled to Washington on October 10 but “while an India officer confirmed the meeting, they never showed up.”
A meeting was eventually set up on October 12 in Singapore at which Drouin, Morrison and Deputy RCMP Commissioner Mark Flynn presented evidence to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national security adviser Ajit Doval.
The Canadians and Indians were to meet again on October 14 and it was agreed to keep the meeting confidential as suggested by Drouin’s Indian counterpart. But India went public on Sunday, October 13, blaming Canada of spreading false reports. Drouin said that it then had to expel the diplomats and issue a public statement.
IN answer to a question by an Indian journalist about why the Indian intelligence went out of the way to meet Canadian officials in Singapore if India had said that Canadian allegations were false, Jaiswal merely said: “Yes, the meeting did take place. I had, in fact, confirmed this earlier also in the earlier presser that we had, and I again reiterate that Canada so far has not shared with us any shred of evidence in the matter that you referred to.”
REGARDING surveillance of Indian officials in Canada, Jaiswal said, reading from his notes again, “Some of our consular officials were recently informed by the Canadian government that they have been and continued to be under audio and video surveillance.
“Their communications have also been intercepted. We have formally protested to the Canadian government as we deem these actions to be a flagrant violation of relevant diplomatic and consular conventions.”
He added: “By citing technicalities, the Canadian Government cannot justify the fact that it is indulging in harassment and intimidation. Our diplomatic and consular personnel are already functioning in an environment of extremism and violence. This action of the Canadian government aggravates the situation and is incompatible with established diplomatic norms and practices.”
Regarding the cancellation of a scheduled Diwali event in Canadian Parliament, Jaiswal said: “We have seen some reports in this regard. It is unfortunate that the prevailing atmosphere in Canada has reached high levels of intolerance and extremism.”
When a reporter asked about India being called a cyber threat in Canada’s National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026 listing for the first time, Jaiswal said: “This appears to be another Canadian strategy to attack India. As I mentioned earlier, the senior officials have openly confessed that they are seeking to manipulate global opinion against India. As on other occasions, imputations are made without any evidence.”
He added in Hindi: “This is absolutely unjustified.”
And in answer to a question about NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wanting to introduce a motion to officially recognize the ‘Sikh genocide’ in Parliament, Jaiswal responded: “For long we have been making … our views very clear about extremism and the culture of violence and anti-India activities in Canada. This is our core concern against the Canadian government and we hope they will take action against these activities. That is how we look at it.”
Jaiswal also said that India was monitoring the well-being of its students and temporary workers in Canada, saying: “Our concern for their safety and security remains strong.”
