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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) extends his hand for a handshake with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau in New Delhi, India, February 23, 2018.
Canadian authorities have warned businessman Hardeep Malik that his life may be in danger, and they are investigating whether India is seeking to kill political enemies in Canada, according to a new CBC report. The news poses a fresh challenge to the government of Justin Trudeau and potentially an irritant to US-Indian relations.
The CBC learned that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued the formal warning last week to Malik. He is the son of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was murdered in 2022, years after being acquitted of murder and conspiracy in the 1985 terrorist bombing of Air India Flight 182, which killed 329 people.
Canada’s failure to prevent the bombing of that flight, or to convict those responsible, has put an enduring strain on relations between Canada and India. Malik had appeared to have reconciled with Narendra Modi’s government before his murder, but the RCMP is investigating whether India may have ordered his killing.
Last fall, Trudeau accused India’s government of being behind the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who, like Malik, was an advocate for an independent Sikh state in India. India angrily denied the accusation, but legal documents eventually made it clear that American authorities had reason to believe the Indian government was behind assassination plots in Canada and the United States.
Joe Biden, who sees Modi’s government as a crucial ally in Asia, is thought to have pressured the Indians to stop killing people in Canada and the United States, but it is not clear that India was chastened. At a recent election rally, Modi boasted about extraterritorial murders. “Today, even India’s enemies know: This is Modi, this is the New India. This New India comes into your home to kill you.”
The last thing Biden needs is another crisis to manage, so it may be up to police in Canada and the United States to put a stop to India’s bumbling assassins.