Canada labels India as Cyber Adversary along with China, Russia, Iran, N Korea. Here are top 5 claims

In its latest allegation, the Justin Trudeau government in Canada has designated India as a "cyber adversary" and added it to a list of hostile nations in cybersecurity. India condemned this move, calling it an attempt to tarnish its international reputation.

Here's what Canada said

India is named fifth after China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the recently releasesd survey ‘National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026’

• 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.

• The report said, “India's leadership almost certainly aspires to build a modernized cyber program with domestic cyber capabilities. India very likely uses its cyber program 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. We assess that India's cyber program 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. We judge that official bilateral relations between Canada and India will very likely drive Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activity against Canada."

• It also said, “countries that aspire to become new centres of power within the global system, such as India, are building cyber programs that present varying levels of threat to Canada.”

Reacting to Trudeau's claim, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs noted, "We see this as another Canadian strategy to attack and malign India. Their senior officials have openly confessed that Canada is seeking to manipulate global opinions against India. As on other occasions, allegations are made repeatedly without a shred of evidence."

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 last month expelled six Canadian diplomats and withdrawn its high commissioner Sanjay Verma and other “targeted” officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa's charges.