What’s Five Eyes staring at India amid Canada stand-off

On October 14, the chill in Indo-Canada ties took the shape of a diplomatic stand-off. Justin Trudeau’s Canadian government labelled the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats ‘persons of interest’ in the murder probe of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. On that day, the US State Department put out a statement, which it withdrew later, related to the probe into the bid on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s life. Like Nijjar, Pannun is a Khalistani terrorist. The American move seemed to be in coordination with Canada’s. And it wasn’t the first time. That the US and Canada were waving red flags at India together is linked to the two being part of the powerful Five Eyes grouping.
The Five Eyes is one of the most close-knit espionage alliances in the world, dating back to World War II.
Canada first accused the Indian government of links to Nijjar’s killing, and that came after it received intelligence from the Five Eyes network.
And not just that. Caught in conflict with an assertive India, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dialling leaders of the Five Eyes to shore up support.
On shaky ground since 2023, India-Canada diplomatic relations plunged further on October 14 as India recalled six diplomats, including its high commissioner, and expelled six Canadian diplomats.
As all eyes were on the tit-for-tat diplomacy between India and Canada, the US made a move related to another Khalistani terrorist. The US, investigating a foiled plot to murder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York, said an Indian inquiry committee was set to travel to the country on October 15.
The US was probing allegations that an Indian government official was linked to the foiled assassination attempt on Pannun. However, the statement, posted by the US Department of State on X, was later withdrawn.
Not just that, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller even alleged that India was not cooperating with Canada on its Nijjar killing probe.
That the US and Canada, two close allies, moved in sync shouldn’t come as a surprise as they are part of the Five Eyes alliance and have close cooperation on sharing of all vital information.
And not just the US, even New Zealand — another Five Eyes member — backed Canada, albeit with caution.
The Five Eyes, comprising the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, is one of the most close-knit intelligence forums in the world, where the member states share a wide range of intel in a coordinated manner to shield their national interests.
That’s the Five Eyes, that has appeared amid the Indo-Canada row as the US and Canada investigate attacks on two Khalistani terrorists.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau revealed that Canada shared all information it had related to the allegations of the involvement of Indian officials in the killing of Nijjar. In 2023, a New York Times report said that the US shared intelligence inputs on Nijjar’s killing with Canada.
“From the beginning as of last summer, we have worked closely with our Five Eyes partners, particularly with the US, where they have gone through a similar pattern of behaviour from India in regard to an attempted extrajudicial killing. And we will continue to work with our allies as we stand up together for the rule of law,” Trudeau said at the news conference on Monday.
The admission came with Canada’s Foreign Minister, Mélanie Joly, revealing the same.
“We will continue to engage with our Five Eyes partners, we will continue to engage with all the G7 partners, and everything is on the table,” Mélanie Joly answered when she was asked if Canada would consider imposing sanctions against India.
She also confirmed that she had communicated with her Five Eyes counterparts, which includes the Foreign Ministers of member nations, on the matter.
New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, agreed that the island nation was briefed by Canada on “recent announcements on ongoing criminal investigations into violence and threats of violence against members of its South Asian community”.
“The alleged criminal conduct outlined publicly by Canadian law enforcement authorities, if proven, would be very concerning,” Winston Peters wrote on X on Tuesday.
However, Peters did not mention India in his X post.
The Five Eyes alliance is a longstanding and highly influential intelligence partnership between five English-speaking countries.
Formed in the aftermath of World War II, the alliance is rooted in the UKUSA Agreement of 1946, a multilateral treaty for cooperation in signals intelligence (SIGINT).
This alliance originated from secret meetings between British and American code-breakers during World War II and was formalised to enhance the war effort. Over the years, it has expanded to include Canada in 1948 and Australia and New Zealand in 1956.
“The alliance is one of the world’s most unified multilateral arrangements”, says the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness of Canada.
The Five Eyes alliance is known for its comprehensive global surveillance capabilities, monitoring electronic communications, including phone calls, emails, and text messages, through various methods such as intercepting data from satellites, telephone networks, and fibre optic cables, according to Forbes.
The alliance is also said to collaborate with major technology companies to gather user data, said a 2013 report in The Washington Post.
It is ironical that the Five Eyes is being mentioned in India’s context as the grouping became increasingly active amid China’s muscle-flexing, and the US bid to contain it.
Since Nijjar’s murder, the United States has stepped up cooperation with Canada in investigating related plots, including the attempted assassination of Pannun in New York.
As the India-Canada row escalated on October 15, the US again underlined that Trudeau’s allegations about the Nijjar killing in Canada are “extremely serious”, and ‘India needs to take them seriously’.
“We wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation. Obviously, they have not chosen that path,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
It was the intelligence from the Five Eyes that resulted in Canada publicly accusing the Indian government of the murder of Nijjar, according to a CNN report from 2023.
I’m “confirming that there was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that helped lead Canada to make the statements that the prime minister made,” US Ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, told CNN, a week after Trudeau’s claims, that the Indian government called “absurd and motivated”.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Monday, revealed he briefed US Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on actions being taken by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
“He [Garland] and I discussed the importance of the FBI and the RCMP continuing to share information as these various criminal cases continue,” LeBlanc said, while underlining the importance of continued information-sharing between the FBI and the RCMP.
The US’s FBI and Canada’s RCMP are the participating federal agencies in the Five Eyes forum.
Not just for intelligence-sharing, the Five Eyes also works in providing strategic advantage to its members. Trudeau has been trying to garner support on the Nijjar issue from other members as a pressure tactic against India.
On October 15, Trudeau dialled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to brief him on the issue.
The five members of the group are all developed nations of the Anglosphere. The US, the UK and Canada, three of the Five Eyes members, are also part of the G7 economic grouping. That’s where the sanctions talk comes in too.
Though Canada risks billions of dollars in trade if the conflict with India snowballs, there is the Five Eyes that the Trudeau government would like to leverage as the issue takes a turn for the worse.