India and Canada have agreed on a work plan to guide cooperation on national security and law enforcement, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Sunday.
The plan includes appointing liaison officers on matters of security and law-enforcement.
The agreement was reached during meetings in Ottawa on Friday and Saturday between India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his Canadian counterpart Nathalie Drouin.
The two sides acknowledged progress in initiatives aimed at supporting the safety and security of their countries and citizens, and agreed for practical collaboration on their priorities, according to a readout from India’s external affairs ministry.
The ministry said that appointing liaison officers would help streamline communication and enable timely information-sharing on matters of mutual concern, including transnational organised criminal networks and the illegal flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl precursors.
The statement said that New Delhi and Ottawa had also committed to formalising cooperation on a cybersecurity policy and information-sharing on cybersecurity matters, and to continuing discussing cooperation related to “fraud and immigration enforcement, in line with domestic laws and international obligations”.
Canada issued a similar readout, stating that the two countries had agreed on the shared work plan.
During his visit, Doval also met Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree.
The visit was part of a regular bilateral security dialogue. It took place ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s scheduled visit to India in March.
The meetings came amid a thaw in diplomatic relations between India and Canada.
The ties had deteriorated sharply in 2023 after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister at the time, told his country’s Parliament that intelligence agencies were actively pursuing “credible allegations” tying agents of the Indian government to the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
Nijjar was a supporter of Khalistan, an independent Sikh nation sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is designated a terrorist outfit in India.
New Delhi has rejected Canada’s allegations.
Four Indian citizens are facing trial in Canada in connection with Nijjar’s murder. They face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
In January 2025, a Canadian inquiry commission had accused India of interfering in the country’s electoral process by clandestinely providing financial support to political leaders and engaging in disinformation.
The Indian external affairs ministry had rejected the inquiry panel’s report, and alleged that it was Canada that was consistently interfering in India’s internal affairs.
In March 2025, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had claimed that India, China, Russia and Pakistan could try to interfere in the Canadian general election that were scheduled to be held in April 2025.
In July, a report by the country’s Security Intelligence Service accused India of being a perpetrator of foreign interference and espionage.
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