Two senior Canadian officials have admitted leaking intelligence about apparent Indian involvement in the assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, ahead of any public statement by Canadian authorities.

National Security and Intelligence Adviser Nathalie Drouin appeared before a parliamentary committee saying she and Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison leaked information to The Washington Post, seeking to frame Canada's stance in the international media at a time of heightened tension with India. This is following a claim by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which stated that his government had reliable intelligence connecting Indian agents to Nijjar's killing in June 2023.

Did Canada share classified information? 

According to Drouin, although the information was passed on to The Washington Post, it was non-classified. It was part of a strategic approach to convey Canada's concern to the American public and other global stakeholders.“We provided non-classified information on the actions we had taken to cooperate with India and explained how the evidence showed links to the government of India conducting illegal activities against Canadians, including threats to their lives,” she testified.

In fact, according to Drouin, the decision to engage with the media outlet was based on a “communications strategy” that he had built, wherein the message of Canada itself would now find its voice through the media. The said leak comes just two weeks after India retaliated by expelling six Canadian diplomats on October 14 when Ottawa continued to pile up charges against them.

Since early September, the relations between the two countries began to take a toll because this was when the Canadian authorities, including Trudeau, published a public claim that national security agencies had credible information which linked India to the killing of Nijjar. 

On October 13, The Washington Post found that Canada's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met his Canadian counterparts in Singapore. According to reports, in the meeting, officials from Canada had produced evidence that Indian networks hired the Bishnoi gang to target Sikh separatists, including Nijjar. Drouin said Doval “refused to acknowledge any links and denied everything we presented.”

Canada's Conservative Public Safety Critic Raquel Dancho questioned the decision to leak information to the media before informing the Canadian public, saying it seemed “quite unfair to the Canadian public.” RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme defended the strategy, saying that releasing this information publicly might have jeopardized ongoing investigations.

The Trudeau administration’s stance on pro-Khalistan activists, including Nijjar, has long been a contentious point in India-Canada relations. The New Delhi government has already blamed Canada for providing shelter to those individuals who have been found linked to violent incidents, including the 2007 Punjab bombing and the 2009 murder of a Sikh politician. It is still not making an effort to crack down on groups that are campaigning for the creation of an independent state called Khalistan.

What's next for the relations between Canada and India?

India has continued to maintain that the case made by Canada is flimsy and does not contain concrete evidence. Today, both countries stand at the edge of a critical point in diplomatic relations, with Canada struggling to balance its security policies while managing an increasingly fragile alliance with India.