Canada Opens New Front, Claims India Building ‘Cyber Programmes’ To Destabilise Nation – News18

Last Updated:October 31, 2024, 00:12 IST

A new cyber threat report by the Canadian government identifies India as an adversary, a move that would be another blow to ties between the two amidst a massive diplomatic standoff.

Relations between India and Canada have been frosty due to statements made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Canada said it is preparing for so-called state-sponsored hacking and cyber-espionage attempts from India in its annual threat report published by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.

“We judge that official bilateral relations between Canada and India will very likely drive Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activity against Canada,” the report said.

The report also categorises India as a “state adversary” along with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

It also accused India of building ‘cyber programmes’ that threaten Canada.

“Countries that aspire to become new centres of power within the global system, such as India, are building cyber programmes that present varying levels of threat to Canada,” the report said.

India has recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats from Canada after they were named as “persons of interest” in a Canadian investigation into the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist who was a Canadian citizen, in British Columbia.

Relations between New Delhi and Ottawa remain frosty after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of hatching the Nijjar murder plot.

However, Canada has not been able to provide solid proof to back its claims, a fact admitted by Trudeau himself during a hearing of the Canadian foreign interference commission.

India has been vocal about the space Trudeau government and his allies have given to violent Khalistani separatist voices. In Wednesday’s report, it appeared to back them by terming them as “dissidents”.

“While emerging states focus their cyber efforts on domestic threats and regional rivals, they also use their cyber capabilities to track and surveil activists and dissidents living abroad,” the report said.

“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors likely conduct cyber threat activity against Government of Canada networks for the purpose of espionage,” it said.

A section of social media called out the move by the Trudeau government on social media and said: “Canada’s National Cyber Threat Assessment for 2025-26 includes India for the first time alongside China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. It is clear Canada is treating India as an adversary”.

The report also said that an aggressive Chinese hacking campaign is the most active state cyber threat to Canada.

“The PRC’s expansive and aggressive cyber programme presents the most sophisticated and active state cyber threat to Canada today,” the agency report said.