The Canadian government believes that India is no longer linked to alleged violent crimes in Canada, Global News quoted an unidentified senior official in Ottawa as saying on Wednesday.

The comment came ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India on Friday.

The official, who did not want to be identified, said that there had been “very robust diplomatic engagement” between the two countries, including discussions between the national security advisers, and that Ottawa was confident that the alleged activity was “not continuing”, The Toronto Star reported.

“I really don’t think we’d be taking this trip if we thought these kind[s] of activities would continue,” he said.

Carney’s visit comes amid a thaw in diplomatic relations between India and Canada.

The relations 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.

The comments made by the Canadian official on Wednesday came days after Ottawa sought to withhold sensitive evidence in the Nijjar murder case from being disclosed in open court, contending that it could be “injurious to international relations and national security”, Global News reported on February 19.

The trial in the case is not expected to begin before August, The New Indian Express quoted a spokesperson for the British Columbia Prosecution Service as saying on Saturday.

The comment also came after the two countries on February 8 said they had agreed on a work plan to guide cooperation on national security and law enforcement.

Ottawa had previously accused India of foreign interference.

In January 2025, a Canadian inquiry commission 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 was 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.