Trouble continues to grow within Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over his allegations against the Indian government, accusing it of deploying agents to carry out illegal activities, including extortion and murder, in the North American country. A Canadian newspaper reported that Trudeau’s close aide leaked information to the U.S.-based Washington Post for Canadian police to state at a news conference in an effort to support Trudeau’s allegations.

Trudeau’s national security adviser, Nathalie Drouin — a former deputy foreign minister — “provided sensitive intelligence about India to the Washington Post days before the RCMP publicly alleged that Indian government agents were linked to homicides, extortion and other violent criminal activity in Canada. », Writes the Canadian newspaper The Global And Mail, citing two sources who wished to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the subject.

The newspaper also writes that the leak to the American publication on the assassination of pro-Khalistan activist Sukhdool Singh Gill, wanted by India. Gill was shot and killed in Winnipeg on September 20, 2023.

Gill was killed two days after Trudeau alleged that Indian government agents were behind the murder of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023. Trudeau said last week to a Canadian parliamentary commission of inquiry that he had no solid evidence to accuse. India of the allegations he made before the country’s parliament.

The newspaper goes on to say that the Trudeau government’s chosen leak of this information to an American newspaper “contrasts with” its view of leaks of classified information about China’s interference activities. The public inquiry into foreign interference had been launched in Canada following allegations that China had interfered in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, both of which were won by Trudeau.

According to the Canadian newspaper, the leaked information “was not intended to be published” before Thanksgiving (November 23 last year), but the American publication did not heed the advice of its sources.

Nearly a year later, bilateral relations between India and Canada have hit a new low, with both countries recently expelling their high commissioners. Additionally, on October 14, Canadian police stated at a press conference that they had clear evidence linking Indian officials to the violent crimes.

Interestingly, the Canadian officers did not release any details to support their claim. They argued that they must protect open investigations and legal proceedings. They even refused to answer questions about when the alleged India-linked crimes took place.

During their interactions with the media, the police never acknowledged that the murder of Khastani separatist Gill in Winnipeg was linked to India.

India has denied all accusations made by Trudeau and then by Canadian police, calling their claims “absurd” and linked the allegations to the declining political fortunes of the Canadian prime minister, who depended on a leader sympathetic to Khalistan to enjoy a majority within the country. parliament.

At the same time, Trudeau’s public silence on China’s alleged role in the Canadian election that he won. In his testimony at the public inquiry, Trudeau instead attacked the Globe And Mail for publishing national security leaks about Chinese interference activities. Trudeau called the paper reports, released in 2023, “criminal leaks of classified information (which) can harm the reputation, the trust of people in our institutions and in our intelligence agencies.”

For its part, China has denied allegations of interference in the Canadian elections. Trudeau downplayed the allegations against Chinese state actors, saying that’s what diplomats do in any country.