Last update:31 Oct 2024, 00:12 IST

A new Canadian government cyber threat report identifies India as an adversary, a move that would deal another blow to ties between the two amid a massive diplomatic standoff.

Relations between India and Canada have been frozen due to statements made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Canada said it is bracing for so-called state-sponsored hacking and cyber espionage attempts from India in its annual threat report released by the Canadian Center for Cyber ​​Security.

“We believe that formal bilateral relations between Canada and India are very likely to foster Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activities against Canada,” the report said.

The report also classifies India as a “state adversary” alongside China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

It also accused India of building “cyber programs” that threaten Canada.

“Countries aspiring to become new centers of power within the global system, such as India, are building cyber programs that pose varying levels of threat to Canada,” the report said.

India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats from Canada after they were named as “persons of interest” in a Canadian investigation into the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist who was a Canadian citizen, in British Columbia .

Relations between New Delhi and Ottawa remain frozen after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of plotting Nijjar’s murder.

However, Canada has been unable to provide solid evidence to support its claims, a fact that Trudeau himself acknowledged during a hearing of the Canadian Foreign Interference Commission.

India has been vocal about the space the Trudeau government and its allies have given to violent Khalistani separatist voices. In Wednesday’s report, he appeared to support them, calling them “dissidents.”

“As emerging states focus their cyber efforts on domestic threats and regional rivals, they are also using their cyber capabilities to track and surveil activists and dissidents living abroad,” the report said.

“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors are likely conducting cyber threat activities against Government of Canada networks for the purpose of espionage,” it said.

A social media section announced the Trudeau government’s move on social media and said, “Canada’s 2025-26 National Cyber ​​Threat Assessment includes India for the first time alongside China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. It is clear that Canada treats India as an adversary.”

The report also says an aggressive hacking campaign from China is the most active state cyber threat to Canada.

“The PRC’s expansive and aggressive cyber program presents the most sophisticated and active state cyber threat to Canada today,” the agency’s report said.