India, Canada to crack down on drug flow, extremism after bilateral NSA-level talks in Ottawa: Why it matters

India and Canada agreed to a shared plan of action to deepen cooperation in national security and law enforcement, following National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's meeting with his Canadian counterpart Nathalie Drouin on Saturday.

The meeting, which was part of NSA Doval's two-day visit to Ottawa from February 6-7, was part of a regular bilateral security dialogue between the two sides. It is widely seen as a reset of ties between the two sides, which had soured during former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's time in office.

One of the major talking points in their interaction was the threat of violent extremist groups such as the Khalistani-linked terror framework, and combating them to preserve ties between the two nations, a News18 report said, citing top government sources.

The discussions also involved plans to move from mere political rhetoric against anti-India violent groups operating on Canadian soil to actually cracking down on them with sustained law enforcement efforts, the report added.

The high-level meeting also involved the two sides reviewing the progress of security initiatives discussed during Drouin's India visit back in September 2025, according to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The September 18 meeting in New Delhi, in which the two sides agreed to pursue "constructive" steps to repair ties that had soured since the political spat over the death of a Sikh separatist in 2023, which saw each side withdraw its diplomats from the other country.

It also served as a natural follow-up to PM Narendra Modi's meeting with Trudeau's successor, Mark Carney, on the sidelines of the G7 Summit held in June that year in Canada.

The thaw in ties—that had paved the way for the Modi-Carney meeting—continued despite the release of an accusatory report by Canada's intelligence agency against India back in June 2025, which claimed that transnational repression played “a central role in India's activity in Canada”.

The MEA added that the two NSAs also agreed to establish security and law-enforcement liaison officers to help streamline bilateral communications and improve timely information exchange on issues of mutual concern, such as extremism and the flow of drugs, especially fentanyl precursors.

"They also committed to formalising cooperation on cybersecurity policy and information sharing on cybersecurity issues, as well as continuing discussions on cooperation related to fraud and immigration enforcement," the MEA added.

Mark Carney's visit to India

The meeting between Doval and Drouin is also expected to have paved the way for Carney's visit to India, which is to take place sometime in March this year.

"I have ​a feeling in the first week of March is what we are looking at," said Dinesh Patnaik, India's High Commissioner to Canada, to Reuters. However, no date has been fixed yet.

One of the main aims of Carney's visit will be to start formal negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India in March, and setting the stage to restart stalled trade talks in November.

If the CEPA is successful, it will be one of the latest in a long line of trade agreements made with India, after the European Union's massive Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which came after negotiations were finalised in January this year, and the signed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the UK that is all set to come into force in the first half of 2026.

Canada will also sign smaller agreements—on nuclear energy, oil and gas, the environment, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing—with India in March, in addition to deals ⁠on education and culture.