Foreign governments are continuing to harass and intimidate Canadians but proving it in court is a challenge, the RCMP said in a statement clarifying controversial remarks by the commissioner.

“What we can say is that the RCMP is aware of complaints of intimidation and harassment against certain communities across Canada,” the RCMP told Global News in the statement.

“The RCMP, and the broader government of Canada, is also aware that foreign states are engaging in such activities in Canada,” the police force added in response to questions.

The statement was released after Global News asked the RCMP to explain Commissioner Mike Duheme’s comments two weeks ago about Indian transnational repression.

In a May 19 broadcast, Duheme told CTV “We have people that are intimidating people, harassing people, but connecting the dots to a foreign entity, regardless of the country, we don’t have that.”

The remarks, the latest in a series of seemingly contradictory comments from the government about India’s activities in Canada, were condemned by critics.

A Canadian Sikh organization said the commissioner had left the impression the RCMP was walking back its accusations about India’s illicit targeting of Canada’s South Asian community.

But in its follow-up statement, the RCMP said the difficulty has been linking specific incidents against Canadians to a foreign state, with evidence that can be revealed in the criminal courts.

“Investigations are ongoing,” the RCMP said. “However, based on criminal intelligence currently held by the RCMP related to transnational repression, establishing a direct link to a foreign entity with information that can be disclosed in a criminal proceeding is a complex process.”

A former Canadian Security Intelligence Service official said the statement was revealing and pointed to the longstanding difficulties in using intelligence information in criminal prosecutions.

“The commissioner is acknowledging a lack of criminally admissible evidence linking foreign states to transnational repression in Canada. That is not the same as an absence of information,” Dan Stanton said.

“CSIS may hold relevant intelligence on current activity, but it is not under any statutory obligation to disclose that intelligence to the RCMP,” added Stanton, author of a forthcoming book on foreign interference.

“The Service would share some intelligence if their investigative target crossed the threshold of criminal activity and the RCMP believes it would further their evidence collection.”

An especially challenging aspect of foreign interference, transnational repression occurs when overseas governments, or those acting for them, use harassment, threats and violence to silence critics abroad.

The RCMP statement did not name specific countries, but CSIS has identified China, India, Russia and Iran as the main states conducting espionage and foreign interference in Canada.

Asked about the commissioner’s comments, CSIS said that “transnational repression and foreign interference remain persistent threats in Canada.”

“CSIS assessment of the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage against Canada remains unchanged.”

National security agencies believe the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been engaged in election meddling, disinformation and foreign interference in Canada.

India has mostly targeted the Khalistan movement that seeks independence for the country’s Sikh-majority Punjab, labelling activists as terrorists and demanding their prosecution or extradition.

In 2023, India allegedly escalated its tactics when it contracted the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to assassinate key members of the Khalistan movement, starting with B.C. Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

In October 2024, the RCMP went further, accusing the Indian government of orchestrating an array of violence in Canada. Six Indian diplomats were expelled for their suspected involvement.

“As shared on October 14, 2024, the RCMP observed organized crime elements being used in acts of transnational repression,” the RCMP said in its recent statement.

“A number of investigations related to these findings remain ongoing. For reasons of operational integrity and security, no further details can be provided until charges are laid and the matters become public,” it said.

“The RCMP is committed to combating foreign interference in all its forms and will not tolerate intimidation, harassment, or the targeting of diaspora communities or individuals in Canada.”

India denies the allegations, despite evidence that it also tried to kill one of Nijjar’s associates. The FBI disrupted the plot, which the U.S. says was carried out by India’s Research and Analysis Wing intelligence branch.

Critics have accused Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government of overlooking India’s activities as it seeks a trade deal with the Modi government to offset the impact of a U.S. trade war.

On the eve of Carney’s official visit to India, one of his officials told reporters that India was no longer targeting Canadians, prompting a backlash from within the Liberal ranks.

Following the RCMP commissioner’s remarks to CTV, World Sikh Organization president Danish Singh accused the government of “playing word games to shield the government of India.”

“Sikh Canadians continue to face intimidation, surveillance, and threats linked to Indian state actors and their proxies,” he said.

“We are aware of multiple recent incidents, including cases where Sikh activists have received ‘duty to warn’ notifications from Canadian law enforcement. We are aware of individuals being surveilled and intimidated.”

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

On the eve of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s official visit to Mumbai and New Delhi, a senior official said the government believed India was no longer plotting attacks on Canadians.

The official’s comments at a press background briefing were the first to suggest India had halted the clandestine operations that Canada has linked to a murder and other violence.

“We have a very robust diplomatic engagement, including between national security advisers, 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,” he said.

Pressed by reporters to clarify the comment, the official declined to elaborate, but added, “I really don’t think we’d be taking this trip if we thought these kind of activities would continue.”

The official spoke on the condition he would not be identified.

Canadian national security agencies believe India began a campaign in 2022 to kill activists in North America who support Khalistan, an independent state in the Sikh-majority Punjab.

Among those allegedly targeted was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in June 2023 as he was leaving the Surrey, B.C., temple where he served as president.

The RCMP believes the Indian government tapped gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi to arrange the murder. An Indian intelligence officer was also implicated in a plot to kill another Canadian in the U.S.

As the RCMP investigations progressed, Commissioner Mike Duheme announced that India’s government had been linked to a broad array of violence, often targeting pro-Khalistan activists.

Canada subsequently expelled six Indian diplomats. But since taking office, Carney has restored, and deepened, ties with India, which he is courting for a trade deal to offset a tariff-obsessed White House.

Since then, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which India had allegedly cooperated with to target opponents in Canada, has been tied to the extortion crisis in cities with large South Asian populations.

But at a briefing on Wednesday in advance of Carney’s arrival in India on Feb. 27, the senior government official seemed to suggest that New Delhi’s targeting of Canadians had stopped.

The World Sikh Organization of Canada called the official’s comment’s “utterly false” and said it “does not align with what Sikh Canadians are experiencing on the ground and what we are seeing firsthand.”

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Only last weekend, Vancouver police warned Canadian Sikh activist Moninder Singh about an imminent threat to himself, his wife and their children. It is the fourth such warning he has received since 2022.

“The WSO is aware of incidents in the past six months of individuals being surveilled, harassed and intimidated by agents of the government of India,” the national Sikh group said in the statement.

“The Carney government has failed to hold India accountable or to create any meaningful safeguards to ensure that Sikh Canadians are protected from foreign interference and transnational repression. Declaring the problem resolved does not make it so.”

The senior officials would not answer when asked when they believed India had stopped its transnational repression and foreign interference campaign in Canada.

“We have a mature, robust discussions with the government of Indian on these issues. And we have robust safeguards in place to avoid foreign interference,” the official told reporters.

“I can’t give you a specific date of which individuals changed views. We’ve got a systematic engagement with the government in India, at senior officials level, at the ministerial level, at the leader level. And these issues have been raised regularly. And we are confident that we have the basis for further productive discussion.”

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

As Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to India this week for trade talks, police have warned a Canadian Sikh leader about a “credible threat” to his life.

Moninder Singh, who heads the Sikh Federation of Canada, said a member of the Vancouver Police Department delivered the caution on Sunday.

The tip about the threat came from a confidential informant, the officer told Singh, whose wife and children were also deemed to be at risk.

The Sikh activist, who lives in Surrey, B.C., shared an audio recording of the police visit, as well as a photo of the officer’s business card, with Global News.

“From time to time, the VPD conducts what is called a ‘Duty to Warn’ when we receive information regarding a threat to someone,” a police spokesperson said.

“I can’t comment on if any ‘Duty to Warn’ incidents happened over the weekend as there would be an ongoing criminal investigation associated.”

Police did not share any further details but Singh believes it is the latest attempt by the government of India to silence its Canadian opponents.

in 2022, Singh and fellow activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar were the first to receive a duty to warn notice. Nijjar was gunned down the following year, allegedly by the Indian government.

Since then, police have warned Singh periodically about new threats against him but last weekend’s was the first to include his family.

Since he is not a business person like those typically preyed upon by India’s extortion gangs, he suspects he is being targeted because of his activism.

Singh is an outspoken critic of human rights in India, and an advocate of the Khalistan movement that supports independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab.

The RCMP has previously linked such threats to the Indian government, and Singh believes that is also the case for this latest caution from police.

“India uses criminal syndicates, gangs in Canada, to carry out their dirty work for them,” he said. “India taps them and then they go out and carry these political assassinations out.”

“So I feel like the reason why they’re targeting me, for my political expression, my support for a Sikh homeland, Khalistan, or unveiling India’s horrible human rights record, I think it comes back to India.”

For Singh, the incident has underscored concerns that Carney is re-engaging with India without regard to the safety of Canada’s large Sikh community.

Under pressure to diversity Canada’s trade partners amidst U.S. President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariffs, Carney has turned to India.

But national security officials have reported that the government of India is behind foreign interference, disinformation and transnational repression in Canada.

The RCMP believes the Indian government has collaborated with the Bishnoi gang to attack political opponents, notably Nijjar, who was killed outside a Surrey Sikh temple in 2023.

Gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi and his Canadian lieutenant Goldy Brar allegedly carried out the killing for India. The crime group is also partly responsible for the current extortion crisis in Canadian cities.

Following Nijjar’s murder, the FBI uncovered a similar plot by an Indian intelligence officer to kill Canadian lawyer and activist Gurpantwant Singh Pannun in New York.

Then, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme accused India of orchestrating a broader array of violent crimes, prompting Canada to expel six India diplomats in October 2024.

Indian diplomats and agents were engaging in “clandestine activities” such as collecting information on members of Canada’s South Asian community, he said.

“This information is shared with senior levels of the Indian government, who then direct the commission of serious criminal activities against Indo-Canadians through the kinetic use of Lawrence Bishnoi’s organized crime network,” National Security Advisor Nathalie Drouin testified.

“Bishnoi is currently in jail in India, and he is able to order these actions through his gang, which has extensive criminal networks in India and internationally,” she said.

“Serious crimes committed in Canada include homicides, assassination plots, perpetrated extortions and other extreme violence.”

At the same time, Canada’s foreign interference inquiry called India the “second most active country engaging in electoral foreign interference in Canada.”

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In an interview on Monday, Singh said he had received no assurances from Canadian officials that those issues had been resolved, or that India had promised to stop.

Deepening ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government without having dealt with the underlying national security threats was premature, he said.

“There’s a lot of unfinished business,” Singh said, adding that many Canadian Sikhs felt betrayed to see Carney and his officials meeting their Indian counterparts.

“It’s a bit of a slap in the face of the Sikh community that we have all these ongoing issues and we’re talking to a country that’s behind all of that.”

“We’re not holding them accountable in any which way.”

Throughout Canada’s various disclosures of India’s actions, New Delhi has denied them and put the blame on former prime minister Justin Trudeau, while claiming it needs to see evidence before taking action.

“The burden of proof lies on the accuser, not on the accused,” Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik told Global News in an interview on Monday.

Patnaik vowed that if such evidence surfaced, India would take action, even if it implicated senior officials in Modi’s government.

He said he had no response to latest Canadian Security Intelligence Service annual report, which referred to India’s role in the Nijjar murder.

The killing signalled “a significant escalation in India’s repression efforts against the Khalistan movement and a clear intent to target individuals in North America,” CSIS wrote.

“I cannot say anything about it,” said Patnaik, who replaced the previous high commissioner expelled from Canada for his role in violence against Canadians.

“Same way when we have our own report, it says that Canada supports separatist movements in India, that Canada support Khalistani movement in India,” he said.

“That’s the way our agencies look at it.”

Asked about extortions by Indian nationals working for India-based crime groups such as the Bishnoi gang, he said that was Canada’s problem.

An RCMP report released to Global News under the Access to Information Act said the Bishnoi gang was “acting on behalf of the Indian government.”

“You have to deal with it. If you start pointing fingers outside, that’s a different matter. It’s very easy to point fingers outside,” the high commissioner said.

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca