Sikh Assassinations: US Exposes Modi-Doval Hubris
The United States Department of Justice has filed an indictment alleging that an Indian agent hired an assassin to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist. It seems that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Security Advisor Ajit Doval now believe in their own hype about India being a superpower that can get away with murdering American citizens on the US soil.
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| Sikh Leaders: Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (L), Hardeep Singh Nijjar (Mid), Paramjeet Singh Panwar (R) |
Earlier, a Canadian Sikh leader named Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered in June this year in British Columbia. The US DOJ believes that Nikhil Gupta was involved in both the killing in Canada of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and the attempted murder in New York, He is reported to have told an associate two days before the Nijjar’s slaying: “we are doing their job, brother. We are doing their New York [and] Canada [job],” according to the indictment. He lives in India and was arrested on the charges in the Czech Republic on June 30, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Gupta's plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was foiled in a US sting operation involving an informant who was being recruited by him to be the hitman.
“Modi and Doval have a much more macho approach to statecraft, including taking a more risky approach in intel operations in order to say, ‘Look at how tough I am in protecting India’s interests’,” said Paul McGarr, a specialist in South Asian security and intelligence at King's College London, according to France24 news agency. “RAW could do it before, but wouldn’t have conducted assassinations without Modi’s approval,” added McGarr. “RAW has got the political license to kill under Modi.”
The US DOJ decision to go public with charges came after President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and CIA Director William Burns warned India of potential consequences for the U.S.-India relationship over the actions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Indian government is engaged in a worldwide assassination campaign targeting Sikhs and Kashmiris seen as "terrorists" by New Delhi, according to leaked documents of Pakistani intelligence agencies. Inside Pakistan, a spate of assassinations and other attacks in recent years targeted people alleged to be involved in Sikh and Kashmiri activism as well as Islamist militancy inside India, according to The Intercept. Last month, the Pakistani government arrested people it believes were involved in targeted killings of Sikhs and Kashmiris inside Pakistan.
Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said her country remained a “target of a series of targeted killings and espionage by (Indian Intelligence Agency) RAW". “In December last year, Pakistan released a comprehensive dossier providing concrete and irrefutable evidence of India’s involvement in the Lahore attack of June 2021. The attack was planned and executed by Indian intelligence,” she said, adding that in 2016, a high-ranking Indian military officer Kulbhushan Jadhav confessed to his involvement in directing, financing and executing terror and sabotage in Pakistan.
Narendra Modi has a long history of murdering minorities in his country. After the Gujarat anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002, Narendra Modi made the cover of India Today magazine with the caption "Hero of Hatred". Modi was denied a visa to visit the United States. The US visa ban on Modi was lifted in 2014 after he became prime minister. Since then, Narendra Modi's image has been rehabilitated by the West as the US and Western Europe seek allies in Asia to counter the rise of China. However, Modi's actions on the ground in India confirm that he remains "Hero of Hatred" and "Divider In Chief" at his core. A recent two-part BBC documentary explains this reality in significant detail. The first part focuses on the 2002 events in Gujarat when Modi as the state chief minister ordered the police to not stop the Hindu mobs murdering Muslims and burning their homes and businesses. The second part looks at Modi government's anti-Muslim policies, including the revocation of Kashmir's autonomy (article 370) and a new citizenship law (CAA 2019) that discriminates against Muslims. It shows the violent response by security forces to peaceful protests against the new laws, and interviews the family members of people who were killed in the 2020 Delhi riots orchestrated by Modi's allies.
Here's Indian National Security Advisor on how to use Taliban to attack Pakistan:
https://youtu.be/eYRuk8H5M9E?si=ZB1c7Dd8ntQdKeFi
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
Karan Thapar Dismantles Official Indian Narrative on Kulbhushan Jadhav
Why is India Sponsoring Terror in Pakistan?
Indian Agent Kubhushan Yadav's Confession
Has Modi Stepped Up India's Covert War in Pakistan?
Ex India Spy Documents Successful RAW Ops in Pakistan
London Police Document Confirms MQM-RAW Connection Testimony
India's Ex Spooks Blame Kulbhushan Jadhav For Getting Caught
Ajit Doval Lecture on "How to Tackle Pakistan"
Mohan Lal Bhaskar: An Indian Raw Agent in Pakistan
Comments
https://thewire.in/world/pannun-plot-us-senate-foreign-relations-committee-hearing-transnational-repression
New Delhi: Hours after US federal prosecutors claimed that an Indian government official led the plot to kill an American Sikh citizen on that country’s soil, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair announced that he will hold a hearing next week to “examine the scope of global transnational repression and how the United States government can more effectively counter this pernicious threat”.
The US Department of Justice announced the unsealing of an indictment which alleged that an Indian government official plotted to assassinate a US citizen in New York City who is a vocal government critic and labelled as a terrorist by the Narendra Modi government. The identity of the target was revealed by the media as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The plot was thwarted by US law enforcement agencies.
“We are witnessing an alarming rise in transnational repression globally, where governments are dispatching assassins and kidnappers or using international criminal networks to abduct, harass, intimidate, and harm dissidents, journalists, and other individuals – far beyond their borders,” said US Senator Ben Cardin (Democrat, Maryland) in a statement.
“The disturbing news of a foiled assassination plot against a U.S. citizen involving Indian government officials further underscores the importance of shedding light on efforts by governments to silence dissenters living abroad. Next week, I will be chairing a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that will examine the scope of global transnational repression and how the United States government can more effectively counter this pernicious threat.”
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee plays a major role in shaping the country’s foreign policy. The committee is responsible for overseeing US foreign aid programmes, arms sales and training for allies, and holding confirmation hearings for high-level positions in the Department of State.
PRAVEEN SWAMI
London: Two senior Research and Analysis Wing officers were asked to leave their stations in major Western cities earlier this summer, ahead of a decision by United States prosecutors to initiate criminal charges in the wake of the spy agency’s alleged role in an assassination campaign targeting pro-Khalistan activists, intelligence sources have told ThePrint.
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The officers were the head of the RAW station in San Francisco and the second-in-command of its operations in London, the sources said. These are mutually disclosed positions and are not undercover.
The officers are of senior and mid-senior levels in the Indian Police Service (IPS). ThePrint is withholding their names as both remain in service with RAW.
In addition, the Government of India was denied permission to post an officer to replace RAW’s station chief in Washington, DC, who returned home earlier this year. The new officer, in line with long-standing RAW convention, was to have taken charge before the scheduled retirement of the organisation’s former chief, Samant Goel, on 30 June.
The shuttering of RAW’s stations in San Francisco and Washington DC, coming on the back of the publicly-declared expulsion of its station chief in Ottawa, Pavan Rai, has left the organisation unrepresented in North America for the first time since it was founded during the tenure of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1968.
Government sources pushed back against claims that the removal of the three officers was driven by Western pressure. Instead, they attributed them to a series of “unfortunate coincidences of personal, family and administrative issues”.
“The third case, the long pause in assigning someone to Washington, is simply due to administrative factors,” one RAW officer said, adding that it “will be addressed soon”.
The murder ‘plot’ itself, the officer insisted, did not involve RAW and while the inquiry will show if any or some individuals acted “on an unauthorised basis”, the organisation can’t be blamed.
Prosecutors in the United States have claimed that ethnic-Punjabi alleged drug dealer Nikhil Gupta was offered up to $150,000 by an individual claiming to work for the Indian intelligence services to arrange the murder of an unnamed Khalistan lawyer and activist.
Though the indictment does not name the purported victim or the Indian intelligence service, government sources have told ThePrint that US officials told interlocutors in New Delhi that RAW conspired to assassinate top Khalistan activist and lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Following the gangland-style killing of alleged Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, The Washington Post revealed Wednesday that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William Burns had met with their counterparts in India earlier this year to demand accountability in the case.
The expulsion of the RAW officer in San Francisco, Indian government sources said, was intended to underline their message that the US would not cooperate with Indian intelligence if the agency continued offensive operations in the West, an Indian intelligence officer familiar with the case said.
Even though national security officials in the UK gave no reasons for asking for the removal of the RAW officer from London, a second officer noted, the action seemed to be of a symbolic nature, since it targeted the junior of two so-called “disclosed” positions at the High Commission of India in the city, whose status as intelligence officers is known to the host government.
https://time.com/6342873/india-sikhs-persecution/
By Simran Jeet Singh and Gunisha Kaur
India began its nation-building project, bringing the immense challenge of forging a common identity among large and religiously, linguistically, and culturally diverse populations. What a majority of the total population shared, though, was a Hindu identity, and this religion became the center around which political leaders decided to coalesce Indian national identity, much to the dismay of India’s minority populations.
Indian leadership came to see religious minorities as a threat to their nation-building project, viewing Sikhs with particular suspicion and disdain, recognizing they catalyzed anti-colonial efforts and played a leading role in them. They were also aware that Sikhs still had recent memories of political autonomy in Punjab. Indian elites worried about Punjab becoming a majority Sikh state that would gain in political power and threaten the stability of young India. This led Indian leadership to deny Punjab and its Sikhs consequential rights that were afforded to other states, including official language status for Punjabi and its own state capital. India also weakened Punjab’s political power by carving out territory from it for other states, such as Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Moreover, contravening riparian law, an international norm, India diverted Punjab’s river waters to other states and regions, a massive economic blow to the state long-known as the breadbasket of India, and a threat to the livelihood of Punjab’s agrarian society.
Punjabi Sikhs soon began agitating against the Indian government, protesting the erosion of its cultural, economic, and political rights. In 1978, Sikh leadership drafted the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, which laid out a list of demands to safeguard the rights of Sikhs in Punjab and other minorities around India.
A charismatic Sikh leader from a religious seminary emerged during this period, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, whose ascent caught the eye of the Indian government. Bhindranwale spoke adamantly against the infringements of the Indian state, which by this stage had escalated to include gross human rights violations. He called on Sikhs and minorities everywhere to stand up against oppression. Citing him as an anti-national who threatened India’s stability, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched a military assault against him and his followers at the Golden Temple of Amritsar—the most significant site for Sikhs—on a major religious holiday. Bhindranwale was killed in the assault, along with thousands of other Sikh pilgrims who were worshipping there.
The global Sikh community was furious about the government’s attack and demanded justice. In this moment, the movement for a separate Sikh homeland was reborn. Bhindranwale had stated openly that he neither supported nor rejected the idea of Khalistan – but that if the Indian government ever invaded the Golden Temple complex, the foundation for an independent Sikh homeland would be laid.
Later that year, Ms. Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, presumably to avenge her assault on the Golden Temple. In the days that followed, the ruling Congress Party, utilizing state agencies and infrastructure, organized violent anti-Sikh pogroms across North India, focused primarily on the Indian capital of New Delhi. The pogroms left thousands of Sikhs dead, thousands more displaced, and all Sikhs wondering if they could ever have a home in India.
https://time.com/6342873/india-sikhs-persecution/
By Simran Jeet Singh and Gunisha Kaur
Bhindranwale’s prediction came true. The anti-Sikh violence of 1984 made many Sikhs feel like the pattern of abuses under Indian leadership would not end, and it fueled a new movement for Sikh self-determination. In July of 1984, Sikhs gathered in Madison Garden in New York City and announced their commitment “to support the struggle of Sikhs in the Punjab for self-determination and the preservation of their distinct and religious identity.” Less than two years later, thousands of Sikhs gathered at the Golden Temple in their political tradition of Sarbat Khalsa and announced a resolution to recognize Khalistan.
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Punjab was enmeshed in a violent struggle. A segment of the Sikh population took up armed resistance, with the aim of winning an independent Sikh state, free from the tyranny of India. This period of insurgency is often what westerners mean when they are referring to the Khalistan Movement.
While India accused militants of targeting politicians and civilians, Indian security forces employed widespread and systematic abuses for over a decade, including torture, murder, and enforced disappearances, targeting anyone it suspected of being involved in the insurgency or political movement for self-determination. In the years since, human rights defenders and researchers have uncovered the extent of India’s atrocity crimes. In 1995, human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra released official records demonstrating Punjab Police had abducted, killed and secretly cremated thousands of Punjabi Sikhs. Punjab Police subsequently abducted, tortured, and killed Khalra for refusing to retract his findings. In 2017, new evidence demonstrated more than 8,000 additional extra-judicial killings, bringing total estimates to 25,000.
Although the violent conflict subsided by the mid-1990s, the culture of impunity for gross human rights violations and extra-judicial violence continues to grip Punjab. None of the chief architects of the crimes against humanity have been brought to account, nor have survivors and their communities been given reparations. Moreover, the government continues to use the specter of terrorism to target its critics, and the central issue of the denuding of Punjab’s river waters serves as a continuing flashpoint.
This tension was evident over the last couple of years, when India attacked Sikhs during the 2022 Farmers Protests by calling the protestors “Khalistanis and “Anti-nationals.” The accusations fell on deaf ears, with global recognition that Sikhs and others were organizing to protect their agrarian livelihoods. The government used these same tactics this past spring during their manhunt for Sikh leader Amritpal Singh—again, using the threat of national security to violate human rights, targeting journalists and community organizers in dragnet operations. Sikhs have become desensitized to these spurious accusations, well accustomed to the cynical nationalist playbook: demonize minorities to galvanize the Hindu majority. That this strategy is being deployed in the midst of an election year is no coincidence. Modi and his BJP regime have used this program diligently for two decades.
And yet, the Indian government’s alleged attempts to kill foreign nationals on foreign soil indicate a shifting approach. Modi’s India is now willing to engage transnational repression and murder of his critics, joining the ranks of China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia with these practices.
@AudreyTruschke
Disinfo Labs — a group that promotes far-right Hindutva conspiracy theories against critics of the Modi government — is an Indian intelligence operation, WaPo reports.
Some thoughts on why this matters —
https://x.com/AudreyTruschke/status/1734210988625305897?s=20
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EU DisinfoLab
@DisinfoEU
Many of you read
@wapo
’s investigation and we want to reiterate that there's no association between us and 'The DisinfoLab', an Indian entity.
@gerryshih
revealed their connections to Indian Intelligence and a deliberate use of our name to leverage our established credibility.
https://x.com/DisinfoEU/status/1734220723764236601?s=20
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Covert Indian operation seeks to discredit Modi’s critics in the U.S. - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/10/india-the-disinfo-lab-discredit-critics/
The Disinfo Lab, which at one point consisted of about a dozen private contractors working out of a four-story whitewashed building on a leafy street in New Delhi, was created in mid-2020 by Lt. Col. Dibya Satpathy, now 39, an intelligence officer who has worked to shape international perceptions of India, said the three people familiar with the operation. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence activities.
Satpathy was initially commissioned as an infantry officer and served in the army’s intelligence and public information units, said a person briefed on his military personnel record. That person and another source close to the military said Satpathy was later detailed to his current posting with India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Over the years, Satpathy has introduced himself to Western journalists and commentators under fake identities — including his preferred alias, Shakti, meaning “power” in Hindi — and sought favorable coverage of India or critical coverage of its adversaries, Pakistan and China, according to five additional people who have had contact with Satpathy.
https://thewire.in/security/us-drone-sale-sky-guardian-pannu-killing-investigation
New Delhi: The US government has held back delivery of 31 MQ-9A Sea Guardian and Sky Guardian drones to India until New Delhi carries out a “meaningful investigation” into the conspiracy to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, The Wire has learned.
Pannun, who hold dual US and Canadian citizenship, is a New York-based Khalistan activist accused by India of terrorism.
The proposed $3 billion purchase includes 15 Sea Guardian drones for the Indian Navy, while the Indian Air Force and Army are supposed to get eight Sky Guardian drones each.
Also held back by Washington are smaller Indian acquisitions, including a proposal to buy six Boeing P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft. These are to supplement 12 P-8I Poseidon aircraft that the Indian Navy already operates.
Ironically, the Indian Ministry of Defence’s internal approval for the now-stalled drone procurement came in June 2023, a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington. This was also the time when the conspiracy to kill Pannun – allegedly set in motion by an Indian security official named CC1, according to a federal indictment made public last November – shifted to high gear.
Today, “the purchase is stuck in the US Congress because of anger over the brazen attempt to assassinate Pannun. US representatives have frozen the legislative movement needed for proceeding with the sale,” a highly-placed source in Washington told this reporter. The source, who operates at the top layer of US policymaking, cannot be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Explaining the delay in delivering these lethal, long-range weapons to India, the Washington-based source says that Indian-American lawmakers in particular are deeply concerned about the fallout from the indictment of an Indian named Nikhil Gupta. He has been formally charged with conspiring to kill Pannun, and is currently in detention in the Czech Republic pending his deportation to the US.
In a joint statement on the Pannun plot last December, five US Congress members of Indian origin – who received a classified briefing from the Biden administration on the federal indictment – said that it is critical for India to “fully investigate [and] hold those responsible, including Indian government officials, accountable, and provide assurances that this will not happen again”.
US federal prosecutors allege that Gupta had promised $100,000 to an FBI agent posing as a hitman to kill Pannun in New York. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30 at America’s request.
On November 29, US federal prosecutors charged Gupta with murder-for-hire, which carries up to 10 years in prison; and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which has a maximum sentence of a 10-year jail term.
@AudreyTruschke
Threatening family members to assassination plots.
Read every word to see how far Modi's India is going to repress its critics and how the Biden administration is allowing the targeting of US citizens and residents.
https://vox.com/world-politics/24160779/inside-indias-secret-campaign-to-threaten-and-harass-americans #India #BJP #Modi #India
https://x.com/AudreyTruschke/status/1793271160739615018
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India’s efforts include a handful of high-profile incidents, most notably an assassination plot against American and Canadian activists. But more commonly, India engages in subtle forms of harassment that fly under the public radar.
An American charity leader who spoke out on Indian human rights violations saw his Indian employees arrested en masse. An American journalist who worked on a documentary about India was put on a travel blacklist and deported. An American historian who studies 17th-century India received so many death threats that she could no longer speak without security. Even a member of Congress — and vocal critic of the Modi regime — said she was concerned about being banned from visiting her Indian parents.
“I’m always thinking about the impact on my family — for example, if there was some attempt to not allow me back into India,” says Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
In some ways, the Indian campaign is more brazen than Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. While no evidence has emerged that Russia threatened harm against American citizens and their family members, India has been caught doing so repeatedly.
And while Russian involvement in the 2016 election swayed few votes, there’s good reason to believe India’s campaign is working as intended — muting stateside criticism of India’s autocratic turn under Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
An American academic warned me that they couldn’t speak openly about India out of concern for family. An American think tank expert described numerous examples of censorship and self-censorship at prominent US institutions. These two sources, and many others, would only share their personal stories with me anonymously. All were concerned about the consequences for their careers, their loved ones, or even themselves — and they weren’t alone.
“Indian Americans who are against the BJP, or oppose the BJP, have been intimidated and as a result routinely engage in self-censorship. I have heard them say as much to me,” says John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “There are prominent Indian American intellectuals, writers, [and] celebrities who simply will not speak out against Modi because they are afraid that by doing so they will subject themselves to a torrent of online abuse and even death threats.”
As a result, one of the most important developments of our time — Modi pushing the world’s largest democracy toward an authoritarian future — is receiving far less scrutiny in the United States than it should, especially at a time when Modi is running for a historic third term.
India’s willingness to go after critics outside its borders — a practice political scientists call “transnational repression” — is a symptom of this democratic decline.
Most sources told me that Indian harassment of Americans began in earnest after Modi took office in 2014, with most reported incidents happening in the past several years (when the prime minister became more aggressively authoritarian at home). Modi, a member of a prominent Hindu supremacist group since he was 8 years old, seems to believe he can act on the world stage in the same way he behaves at home.
Despite the brazenness of India’s campaign — attacking Americans at home in a way that only the world’s worst authoritarian governments would dare — the Biden administration is putting little pressure on Modi to change his ways. Judging New Delhi too important in the fight against China, the US government has adopted its own unstated policy of avoiding fights with India over human rights and democracy.
@MattooShashank
BJP is secretly trying to control politics in a major foreign country
That's what an explosive new documentary claims
https://x.com/MattooShashank/status/1802730365452222934
Today, Australia's ABC News released a new documentary focused on the Modi government
It makes a range of accusations against PM Modi
This includes interfering in Australian politics and intimidating pro-Khalistan figures in the country
Let's take a look at what it says
The ABC news documentary claims focuses on the Overseas Friends of the BJP in Australia
The organisation works closely with the BJP's Foreign Affairs department in India
Now, members of the group are trying to infiltrate Australian politics
The report looks at Rahul Jethi, a member of the Overseas Friends of BJP org in Australia
It says Jethi has become a key power broker in the Liberal Party, a major parties
Jethi has raised money for a top politician and has also recruited Indian-Australians to join the party
The top Australian politician then backed Jethi's wife to be elected as a local councillor
The report claims that Jethi's influence and power allows him to put pressure on a senior Australian leader
And this is part of a larger strategy
"Sources have told Four Corners the OFBJP’s strategy is to infiltrate politics by first getting elected to local government, then state and ultimately federal parliament," the report says
Jethi himself has denied these claims
ABC's report claims that at least four Research and Analysis Wing agents were expelled from Australia
They were trying to gain access to defence tech & airport security protocols
They were also accused of targeting politicians & surveilling the Indian community
The report also claims that India's security agencies are trying to target pro-Khalistan leaders
This includes Moninder Singh, who has been told his life is in danger
Besides this, pro-Khalistanis have been subjected to harassment and intimidation in Australia
@tequieremos
Sara Adam, who has worked as a data analyst in the CIA, has made a startling claim that India has paid Mullah Yaqoob and the Afghan Taliban $10 million for extra judicial killings of Kashmiris and Sikhs inside Pakistan.
https://x.com/tequieremos/status/1807153558195716216
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Sarah Adams was speaking on Shawn Ryan Show, the video of which was uploaded on 10th June on YouTube. She claimed that India has given the Taliban $10 million and has been taking care of the personal security of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada (the supreme leader of the Taliban). She claimed that India could also be behind the killings of the pro-Khalsitan elements.
She said: “So I was trying to find the US money but then there’s all these other pots of money right and so then you’re kind of like okay what’s happening with them? India does this thing where they give a little bit of money. I told you how there’s Mullah Yaqoob, Mullah Omar’s son, he has another brother Daud. India kind of works with him and they give him money. It’s just kind of like the little things they do with the Baloch like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan). It’s like the things they do to poke Pakistan. They have that going on which I knew about. Then I heard they gave $10 million to Mullah Yaqoob. They went up a step and it’s like well what’s this 10 million for and what are they doing with it? The 10 million went to fund the Gecko base. I’ve never worked in the Gecko base. So it is now the location of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada’s personal security.”
Sarah Adams said: “It’s like the Indian government or you know probably Intel service is funding his personal security. This makes no sense and it’s not even tons of money compared to what we’re putting in so I have all these questions. What is India getting and also really what’s the Taliban getting because they don’t give a damn about $10 million? This is going to sound like the craziest thing ever but what the Indians and the Taliban are doing, I kid you not, India is using the Taliban’s network to assassinate Kashmiri militants in Pakistan.”
The ex-CIA officer revealed, “They’re using the Taliban networks and then they’re doing these assassinations. They’re happening all over Pakistan like in Lahore, Karachi and other parts. This is really risky for the Taliban if people find out. It seems like it could rock the boat. They are using their networks and are the Taliban networks that good to take out senior Kashmiri people? Maybe and maybe they’re not. The interesting part and my theory is that India gains what they’re gaining. These are terrorists and some of these guys they wanted for 30 years. I went through a list of 18 of them. I don’t know if they’re all dead. Pakistan could have heard India had come to kill them and put some of them in a safe house. So there are 18 targeted. I went through all 18 to make sure I knew who they were because I’ve worked on Kashmir forever and to see what group they were. I went through all of them and they were the groups you can imagine, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen and the last one was Al Badr Mujahideen.”
@suhasinih
Not just New Zealand, UK, Australia, US have backed Canada's claims i.e.all 5 eyes network countries that share evidence. Question is, why is this evidence not shared publicly,or to the satisfaction of India?
https://x.com/suhasinih/status/1846498853203108013
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Winston Peters
@NewZealandMFA
New Zealand has been briefed by Canada about its recent announcements on ongoing criminal investigations into violence and threats of violence against members of its South Asian community.
The alleged criminal conduct outlined publicly by Canadian law enforcement authorities, if proven, would be very concerning.
At the same time, we do not comment on the details of ongoing criminal investigations, in New Zealand or abroad, other than to note that it is important that the rule of law and judicial processes be respected and followed.
New Zealand has a diverse population, with large communities with cultural connections to a broad range of countries from across Asia, the Pacific and Europe. We expect all such communities to act, and be treated, lawfully and with respect.
https://x.com/NewZealandMFA/status/1846038684107501873
https://www.dw.com/en/india-should-take-canada-allegations-seriously-us-says/a-70508045
Having made similar allegations recently, the United States has urged India to respond appropriately to Canada's concerns. Meanwhile, trade between India and Canada appears so far unaffected by the diplomatic spat.
The United States on Tuesday waded into the diplomatic spat between Canada and India, urging the latter to take the former's allegations of an assassination plot seriously.
"When it comes to the Canadian matter, we have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
"We wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation," he added. "Obviously, they have not; they have chosen an alternate path."
India and Canada are key partners of the United States, but both on Monday expelled each other's top diplomats over Canadian allegations that Indian government agents were involved in a violent campaign against Sikh separatists on its soil.
Ottawa has alleged in particular that New Delhi was involved in the assassination last year of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an India-born advocate for an independent Sikh state who had immigrated to Canada and become a citizen.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said India had made a "fundamental error."
Does the United States share Canada's concerns?
The US desire to see India take the matter "seriously" is rooted in similar allegations made by Washington over a similar, albeit unsuccessful, assassination plot by India on US soil in November 2023.
An Indian "Enquiry Committee" formed in response to the US allegations was visiting Washington on Tuesday to discuss the case, the State Department said.
India "has informed the United States they are continuing their efforts to investigate other linkages of the former government employee and will determine follow up steps, as necessary," the State Department said.
"The fact that they sent an Enquiry Committee here, I think, demonstrates that they are taking this seriously," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
How has Canada-India trade been affected?
Meanwhile, despite the tensions, Canadian and Indian government officials have said that there has been no immediate negative impact on bilateral trade ties.
"I want to reassure our business community that our government remains fully committed to supporting the well-established commercial ties between Canada and India," Canadian trade minister Mary Ng said in a statement late on Monday.
"We will work closely with all Canadian enterprises engaged with India to ensure these important economic connections remain strong."
Canada primarily exports minerals, pulses, potash, industrial chemicals and gemstones to India and while goods such as pharmaceuticals, marine products, electronic equipment, pearls and precious stones go in the other direction.
But an Indian government source told the Reuters news agency: "We are not immediately concerned about trade ties. Our bilateral trade with Canada is not very large."
Bilateral trade between India and Canada amounted to $8.4 billion (€7.7 billion) at the end of the last fiscal year on March 31, according to India's trade ministry, marginally up on the previous year.
India's foreign ministry says more than 600 Canadian companies have a presence in India in sectors including IT, banking, and financial services.
Canadian Sikh leaders accuse India of hiring hitmen
Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada’s center-left New Democratic Party (NDP), called the allegations "deeply disturbing" in a video shared by Reuters news agency.
Singh, a Sikh, said that official investigations "painted a picture of a foreign government engaging criminal elements in Canada to perpetrate violence against Canadians."
He called for sanctions against some Indian diplomats in Canada with links to the right-wing Indian paramilitary the RSS.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y9v7ed7pko
After a bombshell accusation from Canadian officials this week - that they believe India government agents were linked to a campaign of murder and extortion in the country - diplomatic relations hit new lows.
That rift is now raising questions over the impact it could have on the deep trade and immigration ties between both countries.
Bilateral trade is worth billions of dollars, and Canada is home to nearly 1.7 million people of Indian origin.
The breakdown of relations at this level is uncharted territory, and much of what happens next will depend on how they choose to move forward, experts suggest.
Neither country has imposed tariffs or other economic forms of retaliation, but experts caution that this could change, and that a cooling relationship between India and Canada could hinder further economic growth.
“The biggest challenge, particularly for business and citizens, is going to be uncertainty,” Arif Lalani, a senior advisor at government consulting company StrategyCorp and a former Canadian diplomat, told the BBC.
The two countries have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal on and off for over a decade, but Canada paused talks last year shortly before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first made a public accusation against India.
In September 2023, Trudeau said that Canada had "credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot and killed in Surrey, British Columbia that June.
India temporarily suspended visas for Canadian citizens shortly after, but that move was brief and it resumed visa processing in November.
Trade ties between the two, meanwhile, remained as usual. Bilateral trade is around $8bn (£6.15bn), according to the latest fiscal figures from India’s trade ministry.
Canada’s trade minister recently assured business owners that Ottawa does not seek to disrupt commercial ties with India.
Still, with ongoing uncertainty, Mr Lalani said businesspeople from both countries could look elsewhere for opportunities.
“People will be thinking twice in terms of expanding trade, or trying to build on what they already have,” he said.
Another big concern is how the rift will alter movement of people between the two countries. India has been Canada’s top source of international students since 2018, and about 4% of Canada’s overall population is of Indian origin.
“The human connection between our countries is profound,” Karan Thukral, a lawyer based in Delhi, told the BBC, adding that a big portion of his clientele are people eager to move to Canada.
He said many are now anxious about how the diplomatic tension could affect their plans to work or study in Canada.
Immigration processing remains operational, Mr Thukral noted, but he has advised his clients to anticipate potential delays due to the reduction of diplomatic staff in both countries.
Others, especially those in Canada with family in India, are anxious about India reinstating visa restrictions for Canadian nationals, he added.
Any visa restrictions would come with business implications and could have a dampening effect on trade, tourism and investment, said Jeff Nankivell, president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
“The Indian government has already shown its willingness once to suspend the visa issuance, so it’s possible they could do so again,” he said, adding the biggest impact will be felt in Canada’s large Indian diaspora community.
Mr Nankivell said that he suspects the diplomatic situation will continue to evolve, and the fallout will be felt for a long time as Canadian police pursue legal action against those allegedly complicit in Mr Nijjar’s death and other criminal acts.
“That’s going to continue to raise the temperature,” he said.
Four people have been arrested and charged in connection with Mr Nijjar's murder - all Indian nationals in their 20s - though it remains unclear if and how they are connected to India’s government.
@suhasinih
India's remaining diplomats 'clearly on notice': Canada's Foreign Minister
https://x.com/suhasinih/status/1847474957309112456
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Melanie Joly said the government would not tolerate any diplomats who contravene the Vienna Convention or put the lives of Canadians at risk
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/indias-remaining-diplomats-clearly-on-notice-canadas-foreign-minister/article68771706.ece
India expelled six Canadian diplomats on Monday and announced that it was withdrawing its High Commissioner in Canada after dismissing Ottawa's allegations linking the envoy to the probe into the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Canada, however, said it had expelled six Indian diplomats.
Ms. Joly, comparing India to Russia, said Canada's national police force has linked Indian diplomats to homicides, death threats and intimidation in Canada.
“We've never seen that in our history. That level of transnational repression cannot happen on Canadian soil. We've seen it elsewhere in Europe. Russia has done that in Germany and the U.K. and we needed to stand firm on this issue," she said in Montreal.
Asked if other Indian diplomats will be expelled, Ms. Joly said: “They are clearly on notice. Six of them have been expelled including the High Commissioner in Ottawa. Others were mainly from Toronto and Vancouver and clearly, we won't tolerate any diplomats that are in contravention of the Vienna convention.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police went public this week with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home.
Calling out the notorious Bishnoi crime gang, the RCMP said top Indian officials were passing information about Sikh separatists to Indian organised crime groups who were targeting the activists.
The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain following Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations in September last year of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia.
India has rejected the Canadian accusations as absurd and politically motivated.
India has repeatedly criticised Mr. Trudeau's government for being soft on supporters of the Khalistan movement who live in Canada.
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/11/15/india-canada-tensions-spill-onto-students-education-consultancies
The United States has 337,000 students, the United Kingdom has 185,000 students, and Germany hosts 42,997 Indian students, as per data from the Ministry of External Affairs.
Pratibha Jain, the founder of Eduabroad, a consultancy which for the past three decades has helped students get admission into some of the top universities across the globe, told Al Jazeera that there has been about a 10 percent decline in queries for Canada and the trend has been shifting to other countries instead including the UK, Australia, Dubai and in Europe.
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Canada Govt ends fast-track student visas for India, 13 other countries | Education News - The Indian Express
https://indianexpress.com/article/education/canada-govt-ends-fast-track-student-visas-for-india-13-other-countries-9662032/
In a decision that will impact applicants from India — and at a time when diplomatic ties between the two countries are strained — Canada ended its popular, fast-track student visa programme with effect from Friday.
The Student Direct Stream (SDS) programme was launched in 2018 to provide faster processing for eligible post-secondary students from 14 countries, including India. Besides a shorter processing time, the approval rates were also higher under the programme.
According to official estimates, 60 per cent of the 4 lakh Indian students who sought to study in Canada in 2023 applied under the SDS programme. Under SDS, the approval rate for Indian students was consistently higher, breaching 70 per cent in 2023. In contrast, those applying through the regular route had approval rates as low as 10 per cent.
Announcing the end of the programme on Friday, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said: “Canada’s goal is to strengthen programme integrity, address student vulnerability, and give all students equal and fair access to the application process, as well as a positive academic experience. To meet this commitment, the Student Direct Stream (SDS)… ended as of 2 pm today… Canada is committed to giving all international students equal and fair access to the application process for study permits.”
The IRCC said prospective students can still apply through the regular study permit route, for which guaranteed investment certificates are accepted as proof of financial support.
Under the SDS programme, students could secure study permits in just 20 working days, even as processing times under the standard route often extend to around eight weeks for Indian applicants.
India is Canada’s largest source country of foreign students with an estimated 4.27 lakh Indian students studying there in 2023.
The SDS programme was available to residents of Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam.
Calling it a big blow to students aspiring to study in Canada, Gurpreet Singh, who has been running a visa consultancy in Kapurthala for the last 10 years, said all the students from his area had been taking the SDS route ever since it was introduced. “That’s the case with most of the students from the rest of Punjab as well,” he said.