MEA denies spying allegation
OTTAWA/NEW DELHI, Nov 2: Amid an ongoing diplomatic row, Canada has for the first time named India in a list of cyberthreat adversaries and suggested state-sponsored actors could be spying against it, an allegation that New Delhi slammed on Saturday terming it to be “another example” of Ottawa’s strategy to “attack India.” India is named fifth after China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026 (NCTA 2025-2026) report.
“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors likely conduct cyber threat activity against Government of Canada networks for the purpose of espionage,” the report said.
India is also mentioned in the trend on ‘Geopolitically inspired non-state actors are creating unpredictability’ citing as example how a pro-India hacktivist group claimed to have defaced and conducted brief attack against Canadian websites after India was accused of involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen.
The NCTA 2025-2026 that highlights the cyber threats facing individuals and organisations in Canada was released on October 30 by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre), which is Canada’s technical authority on cyber security, and part of the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE). The assessment reports are released every two years.
While there was no mention of India in the National Cyber Threat Assessment reports of 2018, 2020 and 2023-24, the 2025-26 assessment mentions India – along with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — in the ‘Cyber threat from state adversaries’ section that introduces the state cyber threat ecosystem and discusses the cyber threats to Canada.
“India’s leadership almost certainly aspires to build a modernised cyber programme with domestic cyber capabilities. India very likely uses its cyber programme to advance its national security imperatives, including espionage, counter-terrorism, and the country’s efforts to promote its global status and counter narratives against India and the Indian government,” the assessment report said.
“We assess that India’s cyber programme likely leverages commercial cyber vendors to enhance its operations. We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors likely conduct cyber threat activity against Government of Canada networks for the purpose of espionage,” it said further. “We judge that official bilateral relations between Canada and India will very likely drive Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activity against Canada,” it claimed.
CSE and its partners in Canada and across the Five Eyes are attuned to the cyber threats to Canada from state and nonstate cyber threat actors and are tracking them as they evolve, the report said.
‘Another example of
Canadian strategy’
Meanwhile, India slammed Canada, describing the “categorisation” as another example of the Canadian strategy to “attack” the country.
Their senior officials have “openly confessed” that they are seeking to “manipulate global opinion against India”, and as on other occasions, imputations are made “without any evidence,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in response to queries on the issue.
“Another category, Canada has put India into. This categorisation is as per the cyber report that they have issued. It appears to be another example of a Canadian strategy to attack India,” Jaiswal said.
While rejecting India being bracketed in that category, the MEA spokesperson said, “You first state absurd and baseless things and then level such an accusation against us. This is absolutely not right”.
The report, whose last edition was issued two years ago, comes amid an escalating diplomatic row between the two countries.
The relations between the two countries came under severe strain following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September last year of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing.
New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd”. India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.
India has expelled six Canadian diplomats and withdrawn its high commissioner Sanjay Verma and other “targeted” officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa’s charges. (PTI)