'Baseless, politically motivated': India slams Canadian intel report on ‘foreign interference’

New Delhi strongly rejected the report calling it “baseless,” “politically motivated” .

Hours after Canada's intelligence agency in a report termed India as a 'perpetrator of foreign interference', New Delhi strongly rejected the report calling it “baseless,” “politically motivated,” and a “deliberate attempt to defame a sovereign democracy”, according to News-18.

The intelligence report noted transnational repression "plays a central role in India’s activity in Canada," though it said China poses the greatest counter-intelligence threat to Canada and also named Russia, Iran and Pakistan.

The report was made public a day after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held what both sides called productive talks on Tuesday at the G7 summit in Alberta and agreed to reinstate top diplomats they had withdrawn last year.

News-18 citing top government and intelligence sources in New Delhi said the report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), released just hours after a diplomatic breakthrough between the two countries at the G7 Summit, was timed deliberately to “appease separatist lobbies” and distract from Canada’s failure to act against pro-Khalistan extremist groups operating openly on its soil.

“We categorically reject the CSIS report. It is not based on facts, but on fiction crafted for political purposes,” top diplomatic sources in the government said. “This is not national security; it is appeasement politics aimed at Sikh voters, particularly ahead of the anniversary of Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing," added the publication.

Mark Carney drew outrage from some members of Canada's Sikh community when he invited Modi to the G7.
Canada-India relations have been tense since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2023 accused India's government of involvement in the June 18, 2023, murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.

Canada-India relations have been tense since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2023 accused India of involvement in the June 18, 2023, murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. However, India has categorically denied involvement in Nijjar's killing and has accused Canada of providing a safe haven for Sikh separatists.