All trade, no costumes: What to know about Carney's trip to India, as government signals security shift

OTTAWA— Prime Minister Mark Carney departed Thursday on his first trip to India, Australia and Japan as prime minister.

While Carney seeks to deepen his focus on economic diversification, he must manage ongoing concerns of transnational repression from India, the unravelling of which led to the rupture in the relationship that the prime minister has been trying to repair.

Here is what to expect from Carney’s trip to India.

A senior government official speaking at a not-for-attribution briefing to reporters on Wednesday made a significant statement about the state of Canada’s security issues against India.

Since 2023, ministers and other officials have said it had concerns over agents of the governments of India being linked to homicides and other violence in Canada.

Asked whether it still believed that Indian government agents were involved in such crimes, a senior government official said, “we have a very robust diplomatic engagement, including between national security advisors. And I think we can say we’re confident that that activity is not continuing, or we would not be having this type of discussion.”

That same day, Sikh groups gathered on Parliament Hill to decry Carney’s trip for the message it sent to the community, particularly those involved in pro-Khalistan activism, who say they remain targets of India’s.

The Word Sikh Organization issued a statement after the briefing by officials to reject their assessment:

“I can say with complete conviction that the claim made by this senior government official is utterly false. It does not align with what Sikh Canadians are experiencing on the ground and what we are seeing firsthand,” said its president, Danish Singh in a statement.

“Nothing has been presented publicly to suggest that Indian criminal networks have been dismantled, that accountability has been secured, or that safeguards have been implemented to protect Canadian citizens. We can’t deny what we are seeing with our own eyes.”

Sukh Dhaliwal, the Liberal MP whose riding was where Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in 2023, said he has been in contact with the Prime Minister’s Office to express concerns from constituents who believe that the rule of law ought to take precedence as Canada normalizes relations with India.

“They are concerned,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told reporters that it takes the concerns of the Sikh community “very seriously,” and that senior officials from the Canadian and Indian governments speak regularly to discuss security issues, including the “rule of law.”