NEW DELHI – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has concluded that there is no evidence linking the Indian government or its officials to the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a finding that former Indian diplomats say vindicates New Delhi’s long-standing denials of involvement.
The determination follows a multi-jurisdictional investigation involving authorities in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The result marks a pivotal shift in a diplomatic crisis that saw bilateral relations between the world’s fifth-largest economy and the G7 member state collapse under the weight of public accusations and mutual expulsions.
For India, the conclusion of the probe validates what Sanjay Verma, India’s former high commissioner to Ottawa, described as a “principled stand” maintained by New Delhi since the onset of the controversy.
“I would say that we have stood by our principled stand and that stand has been proven,” Verma said in an interview. “So when we said, and that is from day one, that it is not India’s policy to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, we meant it.”
Operation Hard Ball and the Bishnoi Syndicate
The exoneration of Indian state officials emerged from “Operation Hard Ball,” a sophisticated international crackdown on transnational crime syndicates coordinated through existing intelligence- and law-enforcement channels between Ottawa, Washington, and European capitals. The investigation shifted the focus of the Nijjar killing from alleged state-sponsored activity to the violent internal dynamics of organized crime.
On Tuesday, American authorities filed charges against Lawrence Bishnoi, a notorious gangster currently incarcerated in India, and his associate Satinderjeet Singh, also known as Goldy Brar. Prosecutors allege that Bishnoi and Brar ordered the assassination of Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023.
The sweep resulted in the arrest of 24 individuals linked to three India-based transnational criminal organizations. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Lisa Moreland confirmed to the media that the evidence gathered during the operation did not implicate the Indian government or its diplomatic staff, adding that any future charges would be brought under Canada’s Criminal Code rather than through state-responsibility proceedings.
Verma, who was forced to leave Canada in October 2024 after being named a “person of interest” by Canadian law enforcement, characterized the original allegations as “absurd” and “politically motivated.” He argued that the RCMP’s findings underscored the need for greater evidentiary discipline when governments publicly attribute responsibility for politically sensitive acts of violence.
The Geopolitics of the Khalistan Movement
The killing of Nijjar, a prominent figure in the movement for a separate Sikh homeland (Khalistan), ignited a firestorm after then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were involved. The fallout led to a severe downgrading of ties, the reduction of consular services, and the expulsion of several high-ranking diplomats, testing the resilience of bilateral diplomatic norms under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
According to Verma, the reality of the killing was rooted in a brutal rivalry between the Bishnoi gang and other criminal factions linked to Khalistani extremists operating within Canada.
“That’s what the [US] indictment also indicates, that there was gang rivalry for extortion, for drug money, for gun-running,” Verma said. He added that many extremists in Canada are deeply embedded in criminal activities, suggesting that the murder was the result of a “gang war” over the control of illicit revenue.
Verma noted that the Canadian government had previously been hesitant to share evidence or collaborate. He stated that Canada had not provided information that would have enabled Indian cooperation, despite New Delhi’s repeated requests for the extradition or interrogation of suspects under existing mutual legal assistance procedures.
The former envoy framed the episode as a cautionary tale about how diaspora politics, domestic security gaps, and transnational crime can intersect, with direct consequences for foreign policy and for the safety of local communities far from the original conflict.
Diplomatic Reset and Economic Recovery
The diplomatic trajectory between Ottawa and New Delhi began to shift in late 2024. Back-channel communications between security agencies resumed, providing a foundation for the normalization of ties following the election of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government’s stated intent to de-escalate the dispute.
The transition in leadership has facilitated a move toward addressing mutual security concerns through established platforms. India, the U.S., and Canada maintain existing frameworks for security dialogue and extradition treaties, though Verma noted that the process of repatriating specific individuals remains pending and politically delicate in both capitals.
While Verma acknowledged that the relationship still has a “long way to go, particularly on our political concerns with Canada,” he pointed to significant progress in commercial and financial sectors as a key stabilizing factor in the reset.
Current efforts to restore the partnership are centered on:
- Revived negotiations toward a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), seen in New Delhi as a signal of renewed political will to institutionalize trade ties.
- Increased bilateral investment flows, particularly in clean energy, critical minerals, and digital services.
- The movement of Canadian pension funds into Indian markets, positioning long-horizon capital as a ballast against future diplomatic shocks.
For both governments, officials say the priority now is to ring-fence law-enforcement cooperation and economic policy from the volatility of diaspora politics. The two nations continue to navigate the legacy of the Nijjar investigation as they seek to stabilize a partnership increasingly viewed as critical to Indo-Pacific security architectures and to the reliability of global trade corridors connecting North America and South Asia.