Around 11 months after alleging that Home Minister Amit Shah was behind the campaign of targeting Sikh separatists in Canada, Canada’s NSA Nathalie Drouin and Deputy Foreign minister David Morrison visited India to hold talks to initiate steps to reactivate bilateral dialogue mechanisms and mend ties.
Confirming the development, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “The NSA of Canada held talks with our National Security Advisor. I think it happened yesterday, 18th… This is part of the regular bilateral security consultations that happened between the two countries. It was also an opportunity and occasion for them to follow up on the discussions that happened between Prime Minister and Prime Minister Carney on the sidelines of G7 in Alberta.”
On October 29 last year, Drouin and Morrison (under the then PM Justin Trudeau) had acknowledged leaking information to The Washington Post which first reported that Shah was behind the campaign of targeting Sikh separatists in Canada.
Morrison had told Parliament members of the national security committee he had “confirmed” Shah’s name to the newspaper.
On November 2 last year, India had said it had lodged a protest through diplomatic channels and had called them “absurd and baseless”.
India’s ties with Canada had suffered a setback since September 2024, when Canadian PM Justin Trudeau had alleged the Indian government’s “potential” involvement in pro-Khalistan separatist figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing. India rejected the charges as “absurd” and “motivated”.
The MEA on Friday said Morrison also met Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri at the G7 Summit, which was followed by the meeting between PM Modi and PM Mark Carney.
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According to MEA, the discussions “provided an opportunity to review the state of India–Canada bilateral relations and exchange views on other international and regional issues. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of India–Canada ties, anchored in shared democratic values, respect for the rule of law, and commitment to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also welcomed the progress achieved since June 2025, including the return of High Commissioners to each other’s capitals.”
The understanding reached between the two Prime Ministers ensured the two countries would pursue a constructive and balanced partnership and initiate necessary steps to reactivate bilateral dialogue mechanisms across diverse domains, including trade, defence, energy, civil nuclear, security and law enforcement, critical minerals, space, science and technology, and agriculture, the MEA said.
Speaking on the pro-Khalistan outfits reportedly going against Indian missions in Canada, the MEA spokesperson said, “It is the responsibility of the Canadian government, or the host government, wherever we are, wherever we have diplomatic establishments, to provide security. As and when there is a concern, we do take it up with the concerned side, in this case Canada, to ensure that there is adequate security of our diplomatic premises.”
