Toronto: The Premier of the province of British Columbia has said his government has “no information” about Indian involvement in violence connected to the extortion crisis there.
“For what we have information for at the political level, at least in British Columbia, we don’t have information about the Indian government’s involvement in extortion,” Premier David Eby said during the course of an interview with the outlet CTV News.
He said he was aware of published reports about the alleged linked between the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and the potential connection to the Indian government. But, he stressed, “I want to be clear: At this point, we do not have any information.”
“Police may. I’m not part of the investigation the information they have, but we don’t have any information that the Indian government is involved in this,” he added.
Eby was the first leader to call for the Bishnoi gang to be listed as a terrorist entity in Canada and the Federal government obliged last year. The Lower Mainland region of BC, particularly the town of Surrey, have been hardest hit by the extortion crisis, which Eby said was “probably our number one public safety issue”.
In October 2024, while asking six Indian diplomats and officials to leave the country, Ottawa alluded to links to violent crime in its territory. India denied those accusations and expelled six Canadian diplomats in retaliation. Relations reset after Mark Carney replaced Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister in March last year and gained momentum as they held three bilateral meetings within nine months, the latest on Monday, during Carney’s maiden visit as PM to India.
While the Bishnoi gang has been blamed for the extortion violence, Eby said it may have also “been individuals claiming to be associated with that gang in order to gain credibility for their threats”.
Eby’s statement came days after a senior Canadian government official said it no longer suspected India of foreign interference or targeted violence in the country. “I really don’t think we’d be taking this trip if we thought these kind of activities were continuing,” the unnamed official said during a background briefing before Carney left for India.
Carney told Canadian media in Sydney on Wednesday he would not have used those exact words, but added they had “made progress” with India on the matter of the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey on June 18, 2023. Three months later, relations cratered when then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder. India described those accusations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
Carney said he and his ministers have raised this issues and had “frank discussions” in that regard with their Indian counterparts, including with Modi during their bilateral in New Delhi on Monday. He said his government approach to foreign interference, transnational repression or violent criminal activity was founded on vigilance and engagement to counter the challenge from a wide range of countries. In the context of India, he said, “We’ve reestablished national security cooperation, we’re reestablishing defence cooperation and sharing of information.”
He added engagement was necessary, including at the highest levels “to ensure that the cooperation is there”.
