West Courts India Despite Spy Allegations — SkimNews
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- Mark Carney and Narendra Modi reaffirmed plans on October 13 to expand trade and security cooperation, targeting a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement aimed at doubling bilateral trade by 2030.
- Canada's CSIS named India in its 2025 public report as among the main state actors engaged in foreign interference and espionage, including covert cultivation of politicians, journalists, and diaspora communities.
- The 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia ruptured Canada-India relations after Ottawa alleged Indian involvement, which New Delhi denied.
- US DOJ charged Indian government employee Vikash Yadav in October 2024 in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist and US citizen in New York.
- Australia disclosed in April 2024 that India was behind an espionage network disrupted in 2020, which sought sensitive defense information and monitored diaspora communities.
- India continued Russian crude imports of roughly 2.6 million barrels per day in June and 2.47 million in July, per Reuters, despite Western sanctions over Ukraine.
Why it matters: Despite formal charges, public intelligence reports, and a murder investigation, no Indian actor has been held accountable and no major Western partnership has been paused. Strategic value—Indo-Pacific balance of power against China, trade diversification away from the US, and tech cooperation—is effectively insulating India from consequences, with investigations and engagement running in parallel rather than as leverage.
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