 "What is the Five Eyes Alliance? Why is it in spotlight amid India-Canada row?")
The India-Canada spat over the murder of a Khalistani separatist in British Columbia earlier this year continues to escalate. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of the ‘involvement’ of Indian government agents in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the tit-for-tat expulsion of a senior Ottawa diplomat and New Delhi official have set off what could turn into a major diplomatic incident. Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India’s most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on 18 June. The row has even seemingly caused a divide in the Five Eyes – an alliance comprising the five intelligence agencies. But what is Five Eyes? And why it is in the spotlight? Let’s take a closer look: What is it? The Five Eyes, also known as FVEY, is an alliance comprising five intelligence agencies:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
As per Moneycontrol, the grouping is led by the United States. Its charter reads, “…It is recognised that the intelligence agencies of the Five Eyes countries cooperate operationally under formal or informal agreements and whereas each country has a variation of law on security of information or official secrets binding officials to secrecy, the Council Members commit to facilitating information sharing and collaboration between themselves…”
It is thought to be the most sophisticated intelligence-gathering alliance in history.
Its origins can be traced all the way back to World War II – when the United States and the United Kingdom shared intelligence. According to Tech Target, Five Eyes came about as a result of the 1941 Atlantic Charter. This charter spelled out goals the Allies wanted to achieve post World War II. The US and UK in 1943 signed a secret treaty called the BRUSA agreement – which then became known as the UKUSA agreement. According to News9, Australia, New Zealand and Canada joined the group as the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Russia heated up. While Norway, Denmark, West Germany were added to the alliance temporarily, by 1955 the group was whittled down to its current members. [caption id=“attachment_13153132” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The Five Eyes is unusual for the amount of cooperation and trust between its members. News18[/caption] As per Tech Target, intelligence from Five Eyes has been used for:
- Vietnam War
- Falklands War
- Gulf War
- Overthrowing of Iran’s Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh
- Assassination of Patrice Lumumba
- Overthrowing of Chilean President Salvador Allende
- Aiding Chinese dissidents during the Tiananmen Square protests
- The War on Terror.
As per NDTV, the countries share human intelligence, signal intelligence (SIGINT), security intelligence, geospatial intelligence and defence intelligence with each other. SIGINT is information from radars, internet, mobile networks and weapons systems. Geospatial intelligence refers to satellite images, location information and “encompasses all aspects of imagery and geospatial information and services".
As per News9, the Five Eyes is unusual for the amount of cooperation and trust between its members.
Though countries share intelligence with each other regularly, this is usually both limited in scope and on a transactional basis. However, this seems not to be the case with this particular grouping of English-speaking Western democracies. “While intelligence sharing is undeniably at the core of the alliance, more important is the fact that it represents five countries that are more or less willing to move in lock-step, defying the fundamentally free-for-all nature of global diplomacy, in short, allies in the truest sense,” the piece noted. The piece noted that perhaps the most significant takeaway is that these nations are extremely close – as close as it is possible to be in the grand geopolitical chess game. As per Moneycontrol, the public first became aware of Five Eyes – and its massive reach – in the 1990s. This came after revelations made by Wellington-based investigative journalist Nicky Hager, American journalist James Bamford, and British journalist Duncan Campbell. The alliance came under a fresh spotlight in 2013 – when then US NSA employee Edward Snowden released classified documents about its activities. [caption id=“attachment_13153152” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Revelations by Edward Snowden in 2013 put Five Eyes back in the spotlight.[/caption] Interestingly, India, Japan and Korea at one point were being considered for membership of the alliance. Moneycontrol quoted the US defence authorisation bill for 2022 as asking for the Director of National Intelligence for feedback about expanding “the circle of trust to other like-minded democracies”. However, the club has thus far retained its exclusive tag. The 2015 James Bond movie SPECTRE paid homage to the Five Eyes with its own intelligence-gathering alliance it named the ‘Nine Eyes Committee’. Why is Five Eyes in the spotlight? The Five Eyes is in the news after a report in the Washington Post stated the alleged assassination of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen led to frantic behind-the-scenes discussions of senior Five Eyes officials ahead of the G20 in New Delhi. Canadian officials were pushing for a public condemnation of Nijjar’s killing – weeks before the explosive allegation was made by Trudeau.
However, Canada’s urgings were met with pushback from its allies including the United States.
According to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Canada’s other Five Eyes allies “showed little inclination Tuesday to wade into an escalating row between Ottawa and New Delhi over allegations.” Most opted to treat the allegation as a matter still to be investigated — in spite of the fact that the Trudeau government feels it has enough information to make an accusation in Parliament and expel a diplomat, it noted. The United States, United Kingdom and Australia have all issued statements calling for the allegations to be thoroughly probed. A senior Canadian government source on Tuesday told Reuters that Ottawa worked “very closely” with Washington on intelligence that Indian agents had been potentially involved in Nijjar’s killing in British Columbia earlier this year. “We’ve been working with the US very closely, including on the public disclosure yesterday,” the source said. The evidence in Canada’s possession would be shared “in due course”, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information. [caption id=“attachment_13140842” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed earlier this year.[/caption] Terming the US National Security Council spokesperson Adm Joh Kirby as “perhaps the most supportive of Canada,” the CBC report quoted him saying on Tuesday: “They are certainly serious allegations and we believe in order to determine how credible they are, there needs to be a thorough investigation.” The CBC report also said that Kirby “urged India to participate and cooperate in that investigation” as “it is important to find out exactly what happened.” Australia’s Anthony Albanese refused to comment on the matter. “We don’t talk about security briefings from Five Eyes (intelligence alliance), as part of the Five Eyes group,” Albanese said. He added that he has had discussions with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, but would like to keep those discussions ‘confidential’. This, even as foreign minister Penny Wong told a press conference in the UN Headquarters on Tuesday that “these are concerning reports, and I note that investigations are still underway” and that “We are monitoring these developments closely with our partners, and we’ll continue to do so.” Another of the allies, UK made no official announcement but its Foreign Secretary James Cleverly put up a post on X without making any mention of India. “All countries should respect sovereignty and the rule of law. We are in regular contact with our Canadian partners about serious allegations raised in the Canadian Parliament. Important that Canada’s investigation runs its course and the perpetrators brought to justice,” Cleverly posted. On 18 September, Trudeau alleged in the Parliament that Canada’s national security apparatus had reason to believe that “agents of the Indian government” had carried out the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.
Trudeau has claimed he does not want to make things worse for relations with India.
“We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them, and we want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear.” ‘Absurd and motivated’ India has rejected Canada’s accusation as “absurd and motivated” and shifed the focus to Khalistani terrorists and extremists sheltered in Canada. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated.” India had been pressuring countries like Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States, which have significant Sikh communities, to crack down on the Khalistan movement. New Delhi, which has urged Ottawa to act against anti-Indian elements, has long been unhappy over Sikh separatist activity in Canada. Pro-Khalistan protests had taken place in London and San Francisco, causing tension with the Indian government. ‘Need to see facts’ While Trudeau is urging India to take the matter seriously, Liberal Party members also say they hope to maintain normal ties with a country Ottawa has selected as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific, The Canadian Press reported. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said Trudeau must share more information about what led him to make the statement in Parliament. He said the prime minister did not share more details with him than what he had said in the House of Commons.
“We need to see more facts. The prime minister hasn’t provided any facts,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsNew Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh has written to the newly appointed head of the public inquiry on foreign interference, asking Justice Marie-Josee Hogue to include India in her probe. The Liberals have suggested her terms are wide enough to include any country as well as the Nijjar case. “In my experience, as a Sikh-Canadian, there have always been suspicions that India was interfering in the democratic rights of Canadians,” Singh wrote in the letter. [caption id=“attachment_13151612” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Canadian PM Justin Trudeau answers a question in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on 19 September. AP[/caption] “Yesterday’s announcement by the prime minister confirms that these suspicions are valid,” he said. Canada’s Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said he hopes Ottawa can maintain normal relations with New Delhi despite the incident. “Right now, we’re hopeful that the Indian government cooperates with the investigation. When it comes to all the other relationships that we have, we look forward to continuing as normal,” he said. Sajjan, who is Sikh, pushed back on the Indian government’s contention that Sikh extremists have senior roles in Trudeau’s government. “India’s been making those accusations for a very long time,” he said, encouraging reporters to “draw your own conclusions,” Singh was quoted as saying. Treasury Board President Anita Anand, the first Hindu person to become a federal cabinet minister, said it’s “a very difficult time” for South Asians of any religion, noting her parents are from India. She urged people to “be prudent” and remain calm. With inputs from agencies
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