Report Says UK Provided Intel to Canada Over Killings of Sikh Separatists

On 5 Nov, Bloomberg reported that the UK was the first country to provide the Canadian government with intelligence linking Indian agents to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and to plots targeting legal counsel of Sikhs for Justice, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US and Avtar Singh Khanda in the UK. British intelligence shared a file with Canada in late July 2023 containing details of conversations intercepted by the UK’s signals intelligence agency—the Government Communications Headquarters. Khanda died in June 2023 after being admitted to a hospital. The official cause of death was listed as acute myeloid leukaemia, a form of blood cancer. Earlier this year, his family demanded an inquest after a pathologist noted that the postmortem findings 'do not mean that a poisoning can be completely excluded'. Nijjar was shot dead in his truck outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, Canada in June 2023. Pannun was the target of an alleged murder-for-hire plot in New York, which US authorities said was foiled after they charged an Indian national Nikhil Gupta, accusing him of acting on the instructions of a former Indian intelligence officer Vikas Yadav. The report says, within an hour of receiving the British document, Canada’s then National Security and Intelligence Adviser Jody Thomas briefed then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The report could shed new light on the intelligence trail behind Trudeau’s public accusation in September 2023 that Indian agents were involved in Nijjar’s killing. India has rejected Canadian allegations as ‘absurd and motivated’ and a ‘deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.’ The monitored conversations, together with other evidence, explain why Ottawa accuses New Delhi of orchestrating the murder of the Canadian-Sikh activist, even as India denies any role. The British High Commission declined to discuss the report. 'It is the UK’s long-standing position that we do not comment on intelligence matters,' a spokesperson said. The Indian High Commission in Ottawa did not respond to questions. A former senior Canadian Security Intelligence Service officer who is writing a book on transnational repression Dan Stanton said, 'The intercepts are strong evidence. They have a lot of weight. This is the gold standard of alliances' (earlier coverage).