Canadian spy agency, in its National Cyber Threat Assessment Report for 2025-26, has included India alongside countries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, which it believes pose a threat of carrying out a cyber attack against Canada. The report claims India used cyber capabilities to track and target Khalisani Sikh separatists as well as Canadian government networks.
In yet another provocative action which is likely to worsen the already strained India-Canada diplomatic ties, Ottawa has alleged that Indian authorities used cyber technology to track and target Khalistani Sikh separatists and Canadian government networks. Canada’s CSE (Communications Security Establishment) — the country’s spy agency, has placed India on the list of nations from which Canada faces a risk of a cyber attack.
The CSE, in its National Cyber Threat Assessment Report for 2025-26, has included India alongside countries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, which the intelligence agency believes pose a threat of carrying out a cyber attack against Canada.
What CSE reports claims about India?
In its report, the CSE has alleged that India misused its cyber capabilities to track Khalistani elements and government dissidents in other countries, including Canada.
The report also claimed that a pro-India hacktivist group launched a Distributed Denial-of-Service or DDoS attack on several Canadian websites, including some belonging to the Canadian military, after Canada accused India of being involved in the June 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India-Canada stand-off
India-Canada diplomatic ties have plummeted since Prime Minister Trudeau alleged in September 2023 that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist, who was shot dead by masked gunmen outside a gurdwara in in Surrey, British Columbia in June that year.
India has repeatedly and vehemently rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd” and criticized his government for being soft on Khalistani supporters living in Canada. The Khalistan movement is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.
Last moth, India expelled six Canadian diplomats, following which Canada, in a tit-for-tat move also ordered six Indian diplomats to leave the country.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India received a “diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are ‘persons of interest’ in a matter related to an investigation in that country”.
“We have no faith in the current Canadian government’s commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the government of India has decided to withdraw the high commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials,” the MEA had said.
Bishnoi gang involved
Day after the expulsion of diplomats, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in a presser, claimed its investigation had led to the conclusion that Nijjar was assassinated by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang at the behest of the Indian state.
Responding to the allegations, India asserted that it had asked Canada to extradite members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang but New Delhi is yet to receive any response from Ottawa on the matter.
“We informed Canada about the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and its syndicates and requested their provisional arrest and extradition some years back, and also recently. However, there has been no response from Canada so far” MEA said in a statement.