India and Canada are on the path of restoring and enhancing their security relationship, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is expected to visit Ottawa at the beginning of next month.
The trip is less than half a year following the visit of the National Security and Intelligence Advisor of Canada, Nathalie G Drouin, to New Delhi to undertake high-level talks, which is an indication of both parties attempting anew to restore some trust and intensify cooperation.
The visit by Doval is in continuity of the Security and Law Enforcement Dialogue between the two nations. The visit will also be preceded by a first bilateral visit of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to India which will occur sometime a month later. The authorities perceive such interactions as significant measures to normalise relations that have been strained in recent years.
According to the High Commissioner of India in Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, the dialogue will seek to solve the problem of security, public safety, and law enforcement in both countries.
The wider aim is to make sure that the geographical space of every nation is not abused by the terrorist cells, criminal associations, or other destabilizing factors against the other party. Both regimes are striving to establish a system of strategic collaboration on the topmost levels to address mutual interests.
Among the most important issues faced by India is the actions of the pro Khalistan extremist group that works on the Canadian territory, and such efforts are supported by the New Delhi, causing a sense of separatism and instability in Punjab.
Canada, however, has been concerned with upholding law and order in the country and managing cases of violence that are associated with organised crime.
In September, having visited India, Drouin discussed his problems with Doval and other representatives of India. Upon coming back to Ottawa she said that the talks were fruitful and that both the sides had opened up a direct line of communication through which they can discuss their own issues.
She observed that India stressed the need to respect its territorial integrity whereas Canada stressed its need to guarantee safer streets to its citizens. The discourse works at various levels, such as collaboration among police departments. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Indian National Investigation Agency are going through virtual talks.
According to senior officials, the agenda is comprehensiveIndia’s NSA Ajit Doval Set to Visit Canada for Strategic Cooperation Talks in that it exhibits other issues such as the migration of criminal gangs, ties to terrorist networks, and the traffic of weapons and drugs. Coordination and interoperability between agencies are also being undertaken, but the focus is primarily on restoring trust.
The relationship between the two nations had worsened drastically following the words of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September 2023 who claimed that there were substantiated claims that the Indian agents had been involved in the assassination of pro Khalistan leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada.
India vehemently opposed the allegation terming it as baseless and politically inclined. The diplomatic relations between the two countries have not been good since then and both nations have been trying to cope with their differences without closing the avenue of communication.
There is also a concern of an increase in violent acts related to extortion and organised crime by the Canadian law enforcement agencies some of which have been associated with transnational gangs. These problems have further increased the urgency of the security dialogue.
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As the visit of high levels is underway and the institutions of the countries are moving back to track, both India and Canada are seeming to be moving towards a more stable and collaborative stage in their relationship especially in the sensitive areas of law enforcement and security.
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