Indian diplomats in Vancouver have been informed by Canadian authorities that they were, and continue to be, under audio and video surveillance, and that their “private communications” are being intercepted, the Union government informed Parliament on Thursday.
“Government of India lodged a strong protest with the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi on this issue…[on] 02 November 2024 as these actions were a flagrant violation of all diplomatic provisions,” Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said in the Rajya Sabha.
This came in response to an MP’s question about incidents of cyber surveillance, or other forms of surveillance, targeting Indian diplomats in Canada.
Diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Ottawa have been strained since September 2023, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his country’s intelligence agencies were actively pursuing “credible allegations” tying agents of the Indian government to the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, near Vancouver.
Nijjar was a supporter of Khalistan, an independent nation for Sikhs that some members of the community seek to carve out of India. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is designated a terrorist outfit in India.
At the time, New Delhi rejected the allegations as “absurd and motivated” and said that they were an attempt by Ottawa to divert attention from the fact that it was providing shelter to individuals who posed a threat to India’s sovereignty.
The Ministry of External Affairs had confirmed on November 2 that some Indian consular officials had been recently informed by Ottawa that they had been under surveillance.
“By citing technicalities, the Canadian government cannot justify the fact that it is indulging in harassment and intimidation,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said. “Our diplomatic and consular personnel are already functioning in an environment of extremism and violence. This action of the Canadian government aggravates the situation and is incompatible with established diplomatic norms and practices.”
On Thursday, Kirti Vardhan Singh also said that the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security had in its biennial National Cyber Threat Assessment report for 2025-’26 placed India in the “cyber threat from state adversaries” category.
The centre is a Canadian government organisation tasked with cyber security. The report was released on October 30.
New Delhi had responded to Ottawa on November 2 stating that the report was an example of Canada’s “negative approach” to its ties with India. “As on other occasions, imputations have been made about India without any evidence,” Kirti Vardhan Singh added.