Canadian officials shared 'information' about India with WaPo while Trudeau denounced leaks about China – Globe and Mail

New Delhi: National Security and Intelligence Adviser Nathalie G. Drouin and Deputy Minister David Morrison shared classified information The Washington Post Earlier this month about alleged Indian interference in the country, The globe and the mail has reported.

Citing two sources, the Canadian daily report said Drouin and Morrison, the deputy foreign minister, provided “sensitive information” about India days before the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) publicly claimed that Indian government agents were involved in killings, Extortion, etc. would be linked to other violent criminal activities in Canada.

The globe and the mail The report continued: “The intelligence was not scheduled to be released until RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme held a news conference on Thanksgiving Day.”

If the allegations raised by the Canadian newspaper prove to be true, they make it clear that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of Chinese interference differ significantly from those made by India.

Appearing before the Foreign Interference Commission on Oct. 16, Trudeau sought to downplay alleged incidents of Chinese diplomats targeting Canadian lawmakers as “what diplomats do.”

The commission was created last year to investigate allegations of foreign interference in Canada's 2019 and 2021 elections.

At the same hearing, he said a criminal had leaked confidential information The globe and the mail about alleged cases of Chinese interference in domestic elections, while his own senior officials briefed American reporters about alleged Indian interference.

The Canadian daily pointed this out The post Coverage of Sukhdool Singh's assassination as an example of intelligence shared with American newspaper.

The RCMP has publicly alleged no links between Indian government officials and Singh's killing. So far, the Canadian government has only raised the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India.

The American newspaper also reported a five-hour meeting between Drouin, Morrison and RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn with Ajit Doval, India's national security adviser (NSA), in Singapore on October 12.

At that meeting, Canadian officials had alleged that Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also involved in the chain of command behind New Delhi's operations in Canada, according to the Washington Post.

The Washington Post was one of the first to name in April the Indian government official who allegedly orchestrated the attempted assassination of New York-based Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, another terrorist designated by India.

The US Department of Justice has quashed two indictments in connection with the investigation into the conspiracy against two Indian nationals – Nikhil Gupta and Vikash Yadav – as alleged perpetrators.

Gupta is currently in an American prison awaiting his next court date, scheduled for January 17, 2025, while Yadav, a former officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and the paramilitary forces of India, is released from government service here became.

India has set up a high-level investigative committee to investigate evidence provided by the US in the foiled Pannun assassination attempt, while rejecting Ottawa's allegations of involvement in Nijjar's killing.

New Delhi claims Canada hasn't shared a “wrap of evidence” to date. Trudeau acknowledged on October 16 that when he personally spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the issue in September 2023, Canadian authorities did not have “hard evidence,” only intelligence information.

The following year, the RCMP claimed to have collected evidence on the Nijjar case. Last week, the diplomatic conflict between India and Canada escalated as New Delhi withdrew its High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and five other diplomats and expelled six Canadian diplomats from the country.

This is an updated version of the report.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)

Also read: A day after the interview with the former envoy to Canada was published, the CTV News website was inaccessible in India