Dasvand
Ottawa (November 10, 2025): As India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar arrives in Canada for the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Niagara, the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) has issued an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney warning that renewed diplomatic engagement with India risks legitimizing an ongoing campaign of transnational repression. The WSO urges Ottawa to suspend its “reset” of relations until India is held accountable for violence, espionage, and intimidation targeting Sikh Canadians.
The full letter follows below:
November 10, 2025
The Right Honourable Mark Carney, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister Carney,
Re: Canada’s Ongoing “Reset” With India
I write to you on behalf of the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) and the broader Sikh community in Canada, with grave concern about the direction of your government’s current “reset” of relations with India. As Canada prepares to host India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Niagara on November 11–12, we feel compelled to relay to you the alarm and dismay spreading through our community at what appears to be the ongoing normalization of relations with a regime credibly accused of targeting Canadians on our soil.
For quite some time Sikhs in Canada have been living under the shadow of an unprecedented campaign of transnational repression that originates in India. Although most Canadians are aware of the murder of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, Sikhs continue to witness ongoing brazen acts of violence and intimidation in this country.
In just the past few months, multiple Sikh Canadians have been attacked or killed in circumstances linked to Indian interference. Every week brings news of multiple shootings, assassinations, arsons and extortion calls. Just in October there have been multiple shootings linked to the India-backed Bishnoi gang, including the October 27, 2025 murder of 68-year-old Abbotsford businessman Darshan Singh Sahsi who was gunned down outside his home. These are not random crimes. They are targeted acts of terror aimed at silencing Sikh voices and creating a climate of fear in our community.
Sikh Canadians today are being warned that our lives are in danger. Numerous Sikh activists and community leaders have received official “duty-to-warn” notices indicating credible threats to their lives. WSO is aware of multiple such warnings issued just this summer. Recipients are given a paper saying they could be targeted and are then essentially left on their own, without any actual support or protection.
We have effectively been told that the police and authorities cannot shield us. In one instance, an individual asked the officer delivering the warning notice what he should do. He was advised, “you gotta do what you gotta do.”
This is a state of lawlessness that leaves our community feeling abandoned by your government as we see no meaningful steps to counter the source of these threats- India.
Canadian security officials have publicly acknowledged that there is a coordinated campaign to create terror in Canada by agents of the Government of India, using criminal proxies. In October 2024, the RCMP named the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as the key outfit being employed by the Government of India for this purpose. In short, India’s responsibility for this campaign of transnational repression is not in doubt. Senior Canadian officials have also confirmed that India’s Home Minister Amit Shah personally ordered the campaign of violence and intelligence-gathering against Sikh activists in Canada. Shah is widely considered Prime Minister Modi’s right-hand man. This was confirmed once again last week in a report by Bloomberg which referenced intelligence received by Canada from their counterparts in the UK.
Despite India’s flagrant interference in Canada’s internal security, including espionage, assassination, and intimidation on Canadian soil, the response from New Delhi continues to be outright denial and deflection. Most recently, India’s new High Commissioner to Ottawa, Mr. Dinesh Patnaik, publicly denied India’s role in any criminal activity or transnational repression and called such allegations “baseless.” Such blanket denials, in the face of a mountain of proof to the contrary, amount to a calculated disinformation campaign intended to obscure India’s responsibility.
However, our real concern is the direction your government has taken in the approach with India. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has said that Canada is “moving forward from September-October 2023” and “elevating” the relationship with India. In this regard, your government has fully restored diplomatic ties with New Delhi, bringing in new Indian diplomats. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, NSA Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar have all visited Canada in the past six months.
Instead of seeing our government press for accountability and demanding an end to India’s transnational repressions, we see photo-ops of ministers meeting, talk of trade and investment, and silence on the uncomfortable truths that India continues to deny. The visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar in the backdrop of shootings and murders sends a message to our community that Sikh lives are negotiable and that when push comes to shove, economic interests and supply chain considerations will trump the duty of our government to protect its citizens and uphold our laws.
We therefore urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to recalibrate Canada’s “reset” with India to one that is principled and firm. Specifically, WSO and the Sikh community ask your government to take the following actions without delay:
- Publicly Bar Indian Espionage Agents from Canada’s Soil – Issue a clear, public assurance that any Indian diplomats accredited to Canada will be thoroughly vetted and will not include known intelligence or security operatives. Any Indian official credibly suspected of involvement in surveillance, intimidation, or interference against Canadians must be denied entry or declared persona non grata. Canada must demand that India cease all foreign interference and transnational activities on Canadian soil.
- Sanction and Prosecute the Orchestrators – It is not enough to blacklist the trigger-pullers like the Bishnoi gang. Those who directed, financed or facilitated these crimes, including officials in the Indian government, must face consequences. This includes pursuing sanctions against high-level Indian officials (up to and including Home Minister Amit Shah) who have been implicated by our intelligence agencies and allies. We must send an unambiguous message that conspiring to kill Canadians will have dire personal consequences for the conspirators, no matter how powerful.
- Protect Sikh Canadians Under Threat – Canada must overhaul the “duty-to-warn” system and provide tangible support to those it is meant to help. The current ad-hoc approach of a warning letter and a suggestion to “be careful” is a dereliction of our duty of care. Threat intelligence must be matched with tangible safety measures.
- Launch a Public Inquiry – Establish a fully independent public inquiry into India’s campaign of foreign interference and transnational repression in Canada, including assassinations, espionage, propaganda, and political interference.
For Sikhs in Canada, this is a deeply emotional moment. We believe in a Canada that does not barter away its citizens’ rights. We believe in Canada’s promise of justice, pluralism, and democracy. But that promise is now in question. How your government handles this issue will define the faith of a generation of Sikh Canadians in their institutions.
It is not too late to correct the course. By taking the steps above, you can reassure all Canadians that our government will hold foreign powers to account when they cross red lines. There can be no normalizing of ties with India until the campaign of targeting Sikhs in Canada stops, and until we see genuine accountability for the crimes committed. Anything less would be a betrayal not only of the Sikh community, but of Canada’s sovereignty and the rule of law itself.
Thank you for your attention to these urgent concerns. We remain hopeful that our government will do what is right.
Sincerely,
Danish Singh
President
World Sikh Organization of Canada