October 21, 2025

India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, has raised a big question: Is Canada really safe for Indians? In a gritty interview with CTV, aired Sunday, the diplomat shared a surprising fact — he himself is under protection in Canada. "I find it strange that a High Commissioner here has to be under protection," Patnaik said, adding, "I should not be under protection in a country like this if you think it’s safe." His remarks came just after the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) protested outside his residence for 12 long hours. This protest added fuel to a simmering fire of tensions between India and Canada. A senior Indian official told the Hindustan Times that India has already voiced its safety concerns about Patnaik to the Canadian government. Patnaik did not shy away from bringing out the harsh truth. "Is Canada safe to Indians here? Is Canada safe in itself? Because Canada cannot look at this situation as an Indian problem. It’s a Canadian problem. There are Canadians who are creating this problem," he said boldly. To prove his point, he mentioned Kap’s Café, a restaurant owned by beloved Indian comedian Kapil Sharma, which was fired upon for the third time in just 100 days last week. "Indians and South Asians are feeling unsafe here. Do we need to target that?" Patnaik asked. He also pointed out an interesting difference: Canada’s High Commissioner in New Delhi does not need such protection. The security for Indian diplomats ramped up in 2023 after SFJ targeted them in posters following the killing of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia on June 18 that year. The relationship between the two nations took a nosedive when then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned "credible allegations" linking Indian agents to Nijjar’s killing. Things worsened further when India expelled six Canadian diplomats after Canada asked for their immunity to be waived for investigation. Looking ahead, Patnaik expressed hope. He thanked Trudeau’s successor, Prime Minister Mark Carney, for playing "a very big role in getting things back to normal." This reset began with Carney’s meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in June. Following that, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand recently visited Canada and talks continue regularly. Responding to a comment that Trudeau destroyed the relationship, Patnaik smiled and remarked, "I don’t think any relationship can be destroyed by a single man. It needs a whole eco-system to be destroyed," adding, "it needs a lot of people to build it back." He dismissed the October 2024 allegations as "preposterous and absurd," stressing that India does not take extraterritorial actions or target pro-Khalistan figures in Canada. "They never were. I find that very strange that allegations have become evidence," he said. Patnaik also mentioned ongoing law enforcement and security talks between the two countries, focusing on respecting sovereignty and tackling crimes. Both sides want people to feel "safe," and the goal is to rebuild the trust that was lost over these troubling times. "We lost trust because we felt there was an allegation without substance. There was trust deficit on the other side," he explained. Now, the dialogue is working hard to fix that trust gap. With safety concerns and political drama on display, India and Canada are walking a tightrope. But hope is in the air, with leaders pushing for peace and stronger friendship ahead.

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Tags: India-canada relations, Dinesh patnaik, High commissioner security, Sikhs for justice, Khalistan issue, Diplomatic tensions,