A senior official in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s government is believed to have approved a campaign to threaten or kill Canadians, Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison told lawmakers Tuesday.
Morrison joined other senior officials testifying before lawmakers on the Public Safety and National Security Committee. Committee members are questioning the RCMP’s shocking claims made two weeks ago that Indian government agents were involved in a wide range of crimes in Canada, including murder, extortion and intimidation.
Conservative MP Raquel Dancho, the party’s public safety critic, led the hearing with questions about information the Canadian government shared with the Washington Post.
that newspaper report Canadian officials have identified Indian Home Minister Amit Shah as one of the senior officials who approved the intelligence-gathering mission and attacks on Sikh separatists in Canada.
“Reporters called me and asked if it was him,” Morrison said. “I confirmed it was him,” he said.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah gestures as he arrives at the National Assembly in New Delhi on March 2, 2020. (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)
Shah was India’s “second most powerful man” And one of Modi’s closest friends.
Before Tuesday, Canadian officials had said only that records showed the plot could be traced to “the highest levels of the Indian government.”
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme also testified Tuesday. He said police evidence showed that Indian diplomats and consular staff collected intelligence for the Indian government, which was used to give instructions to criminal gangs to carry out acts of violence in Canada.
He also said police had gathered evidence of a credible and imminent threat against members of the South Asian community, particularly members of the pro-Khalistan movement seeking a separate homeland for Sikhs.
On Thanksgiving Monday, the federal government announced the expulsion of six Indian diplomats, including the High Commissioner, India’s chief ambassador to Canada. India denied the accusations and immediately retaliated by expelling Canadian diplomats from its territory.
City Hall | ‘Strong evidence’ links ‘highest levels’ of Indian government to violence: RCMP
video-item-title"> ‘Strong evidence’ links ‘highest levels’ of Indian government to violence: RCMP
Commissioner Mike Duheme told Power & Politics that the RCMP’s allegations of violence and extortion in Canada are linked to the upper echelons of the Indian government and that he provides updates on police progress against threats to public safety.
Duheme said police had warned 13 Canadians that they could be subject to harassment or threats by Indian agents starting in September 2023. Police said some of them had received multiple threats.
Duheme told CBC he believes the people are safer since the Indian diplomats were expelled.
India has denied that it collaborated with criminal gangs to target Sikh separatists in Canada and accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of a “political agenda” behind the allegations.
