Amid strained diplomatic ties, the Canadian government has named India as a “cyber threat adversary” and stated that New Delhi may be involved in spying against Ottawa.
In its National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026 report released on October 30, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said: “India very likely uses its cyber program to advance its national security imperatives, including espionage, counterterrorism, and the country’s efforts to promote its global status.”
“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 added.
According to the report, the bilateral relations between Canada and India will “very likely drive Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activity against Canada”.
The report comes days after Canadian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Morrison alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was behind a series of plots to kill or intimidate Sikh separatists in Canada.
This was the first time that a Canadian official alleged on record that the Indian home minister was involved in the alleged campaign targeting Sikh separatists abroad.
In the recent report, Canada has ranked India fifth, following China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, under the section “Cyber Threat from State Adversaries”.
This is the first time that India has been named as an adversary posing cyber threat to Canada.
Responding to the report, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday that this was “another example of a Canadian strategy to attack India”.
“Their senior officials have openly confessed that Canada is seeking to manipulate global opinions against India,” said the ministry’s spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during a press briefing. “As on other occasions, allegations are made repeatedly without a shred of evidence.”
Jaiswal dismissed the report as “absurd and baseless”.
Diplomatic ties between India and Canada have been strained for more than a year.
In September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his country’s parliament that intelligence agencies were actively pursuing “credible allegations” tying agents of the Indian government to Nijjar’s killing.
Nijjar was a supporter of Khalistan, a separate homeland for Sikhs sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is designated a terrorist outfit in India.
New Delhi had rejected Canada’s allegations as “absurd and motivated” and said they were an attempt by Ottawa to divert attention from the fact that it was providing shelter to those threatening India’s sovereignty. India had also ordered Canada to withdraw more than 40 diplomatic staff from the country.
On October 14, the Indian government said it was withdrawing its High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and some other diplomats from the North American country. It also announced that it had expelled six Canadian diplomats. Ottawa also said that it had expelled six Indian diplomats, but Delhi maintained that the personnel had been withdrawn before the Canadian decision.
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