'I should not be under protection in Canada,' says Indian High Commissioner, flagging concerns

Indian envoy on Khalistani issue

India’s new High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, has expressed concern over the unusual security arrangements during his tenure, highlighting broader discussions between New Delhi and Ottawa on Canada’s domestic security situation.

He remarked, “I find it strange that a high commissioner here has to be under protection. I’m under protection. I should not be under protection in a country like this," noting that the current security measures were excessive given the circumstances.

Patnaik dismissed allegations by the Canadian Police and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linking Indian diplomats to homicides and extortion in Canada.

In an exclusive interview with CTV’s Question Period, he said, “What we are talking about now are the different security scenarios that are happening in this country.”

"Canada cannot look at this situation as an Indian problem. It’s a Canadian problem. There are Canadians who are creating this problem."

“Security scenarios where there is a group of people who are actually terrorizing, keeping the relationship under hostage,” he claimed. “How do we deal with them? How do we deal with the law-and-order situation?”

The High Commissioner’s statements underscore India’s position that security concerns in Canada should be treated as a domestic law-and-order issue rather than attributing blame to Indian diplomats.

India-Canada relations 

Fresh high-level efforts were made to renew relations between New Delhi and Ottawa. Earlier this month, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, where both leaders underscored the significance of India-Canada relations in areas including trade, energy, technology, and people-to-people connections.

During the meeting, PM Modi recalled his visit to Canada in June for the G7 Summit, where he held an “extremely productive” meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The two sides agreed to work towards a “new chapter” in bilateral ties, following wide-ranging NSA-level talks in September between India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Canadian counterpart Nathalie Drouin. These discussions aimed to repair relations that were strained during former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tenure.

India-Canada ties had reached a low point after Trudeau’s 2023 allegations of a potential Indian link to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which New Delhi dismissed as absurd. India has consistently maintained that the core issue with Canada is the space provided to Khalistani separatists within the country.

However, relations have seen renewed momentum following Carney’s election as Canada’s prime minister in April. The revival of ties gained further impetus after PM Modi’s discussions with Carney at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis in June.

In 2023, Trudeau had defended Canada’s handling of Khalistani groups, stating, “They are wrong. Canada has always taken violence and threats of violence extremely seriously... We have always taken serious action against terrorism, and we always will.”