Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CES) has listed India as a cyber threat to the nation for the first time in its National Cyber Threat Assessment (NCTA) on Wednesday. 

The CES, which releases the NCTA biennially, has said that India has joined states such as China, Russia, Iran, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as state cyber threats. The report alleged that while the other state cyber threats remain the more significant threat, India is building a cyber program that can present varying levels of threat to Canada. CES also claimed that states like India were focusing their efforts on tracking and surveilling activists and dissidents living in Canada.  The group also claimed that state adversaries of Canada are getting bolder and more aggressive.

The report states that it believes that official bilateral relations between Canada and India are the main driving factor behind Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activity against Canada. It also stated that non-state Indian actors had been involved in cyber attacks against Canada, citing that after Canada accused India of the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who India claims is part of the terrorist group “Khalistan Tiger Force,” an Indian affiliated hacking group claimed to have defaced and conducted brief DDoS attacks against websites in Canada, including the public-facing website of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Relations between Canada and India have been tempestuous after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government was behind several acts against Sikh separatists in Canada. Canada recently expelled six Indian consular officials and diplomats, while India has retaliated by expelling a similar number of Canadian officials.