'We will call it out': Carney touts progress with India on foreign interference, repression
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will not tolerate foreign interference and transnational repression, as he underscored how progress was being made on those issues when it came to India.
Carney took questions from reporters for the first time since travelling to India last week where he met his Indian counterpart to deepen Canada’s economic ties. He spoke from Sydney on Wednesday, which is Tuesday evening local time in Ottawa.
As his government strikes new deals to work more closely with India, touting its fast-growing economy and a population of 1.4 billion, Carney faced questions over the terms of that re-engagement. His predecessor Justin Trudeau, domestic security agencies and a report from a public inquiry have linked India to foreign interference in Canadian elections and ties of government agents to extortions and murders, including of a pro-Khalistan Sikh activist, back in 2023.
“I will tell you that there is progress on these issues, and that progress is a product — my judgment, it’s a product of the resources we’re putting in. It’s a product of the clarity of our position. We will not tolerate foreign interference, transnational repression, by anyone and I stress by anyone,” the prime minister told reporters.
“There’s a wide range of countries who make these efforts from time to time, and we will call it out, and we will engage with it in a way that is as effective as possible to protect Canadians, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Carney said it would not be appropriate to comment on the ongoing legal case against the four Indian nationals charged with murder in the 2023 slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down outside of his gurdwara.
India has denied any involvement with his death, but had regarded Nijjar, a vocal activist for carving out a separate Sikh- territory in India to be called Khalistan, as a terrorist. India has long held concerns about the issue of Sikh extremism, including within countries like Canada.
After Nijjar’s killing, Trudeau told the House of Commons in September 2023 that Canadian security agencies were pursuing evidence linking India to his death — an accusation that led Canada-India relations to plummet.
Since taking office last spring, Carney has sought to reset that relationship. He has not commented directly on allegations of India’s involvement in the Nijjar case, including at the press conference in Sydney, saying it would be inappropriate to do so, given it is a legal matter.
Carney distanced himself from the words used by a senior government official who told reporters in a not-for-attribution briefing ahead of his departure last week which downplayed India’s role in transnational repression and foreign interference.
“I would not use those words,” Carney said. He later added that the official would not face any consequences.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, who joined the prime minister for his meetings in Mumbai and New Delhi, also distanced herself from what the official said, as several Liberal MPs publicly disagreed with the official’s comment.
Carney said in Sydney that added that while progress had been made on those issues, he said it was his government’s position to also remain vigilant in terms of using intelligence to protect Canadians and also engage countries.
“If and when there are issues, or even a sense of issues, that we are raising them,” he said.
After speaking to the media, Carney attended a signing ceremony between Canadian and Australian pension funds.
He was later set to take part in a “featured discussion” at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think tank on Wednesday local time.
Carney’s visit to Australia, which will include a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and an address to its parliament, marks the first time in nearly two decades that a Canadian prime minister has visited the country.
Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper was the last to do so, back in 2007. Carney’s trip to Australia, where he and his ministers were focused on deepening partnerships on defence and critical minerals, was also meant to signal Canada’s intention that it wants to shore up relationships with countries it sees as like-minded, not only focus on those with which it wants to establish new trading relationships.
National Post
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