India's High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh K Patnaik, has said that Canada is now actively taking India's security concerns seriously and acting against extremist and criminal networks linked to pro-Khalistan elements — a significant shift from the near-total breakdown in bilateral engagement that followed the Nijjar controversy. Patnaik made the remarks in a recent interview, ahead of Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's visit to Canada from 25–27 May.

Security Cooperation Resumes After Years of Strain

Patnaik described a marked improvement in intelligence and law-enforcement engagement between the two countries. 'There is close cooperation in every sector, especially on security issues,' he said. 'Earlier, we were refusing to talk to each other. Right now we have a regular dialogue.'

He noted that national security advisors from both sides had exchanged visits, while police forces and investigating agencies were now in active contact. 'Everybody is talking to each other, exchanging information, doing joint operations together — trying to make sure that both countries are safe for each other,' Patnaik said.

Khalistan Networks Pushed to the Fringe

The envoy acknowledged that a small section of pro-Khalistan elements remained active in Canada but said their influence had been significantly curtailed. He credited Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's administration with helping marginalise these groups over the past six to seven months.

'What we have managed in the last six months or seven months to do, and thanks to the close assistance of the Canadian side, especially Prime Minister Carney, is to again put them on the fringe, marginalise them,' Patnaik said.

He further alleged that many such networks had shifted from ideological motivation to organised crime. 'They're making money out of it. It became a thing which is more of an economic activity than an ideological activity,' he said, pointing to alleged involvement in 'gun running, drug smuggling, people trafficking, extortion' and other criminal enterprises.

India's Understanding of Canada's Legal Constraints

Patnaik said India had developed a clearer understanding of why Canada had struggled to act sooner, citing the country's strong constitutional protections around free speech and assembly. 'The Indian side has an understanding that the Canadians were not actually systematically or institutionally supporting the Khalistan movement,' he said.

He added that the perception in India — that the Canadian establishment was actively backing the movement — had been revised. 'They're unable to put a stop to it because their freedom of expression, freedom of laws are so strong,' he said.

India, he emphasised, had consistently drawn a distinction between peaceful protest and violent extremism. 'What we've been telling them is we are not worried about the protest as much as the violence they're unleashing, the hate they're bringing to the streets, the propaganda that they're doing,' Patnaik said. He also accused certain groups of 'running terrorist operations in India' and involvement in 'extortion criminal activities.'

Bilateral Ties 'In a Good Space'

Despite the turbulence of recent years, Patnaik struck an optimistic tone. 'The problems of the past between the governments are not there anymore,' he said, describing the current state of ties as being 'in a good space.'

His remarks coincide with one of the most significant trade-focused engagements in recent India-Canada history — Minister Piyush Goyal's 25–27 May visit, accompanied by one of the largest Indian business delegations ever to travel to Canada. The diplomatic reset and the trade push together signal a deliberate effort by both governments to rebuild the relationship on firmer footing.