Operation Hard Ball India Canada Organised Crime Lawrence Bishnoi

The multi-agency operation carried out by federal law enforcement agencies from several countries, with networks spanning continents, against transnational crime syndicates, is welcome. India has actively cooperated in the investigations. The findings also vindicate Delhi’s long-held stand that it had no role in terror cells operating abroad. For years, the Indian establishment had to contend with allegations that it was involved in the assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in June 2023. The killing, and the public smear campaign by the then Justin Trudeau government, plunged bilateral ties into a deep freeze. Now, public statements by senior officials of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the agency whose investigations were earlier cited to cast suspicion on the Indian security establishment, reflect the maturity of the new Canadian leadership under Prime Minister Mark Carney. He has moved not merely to mend relations between the two countries but to fast-track cooperation in trade and education. Canadian universities were long the preferred destination for many Indian students, but the diplomatic freeze had disrupted the educational exchange. The new signals from Ottawa should provide a fresh impetus to people-to-people ties.

Operation Hard Ball has also exposed the transnational reach of criminal syndicates targeting the Indian diaspora not only in Canada but also in the US, Europe and Australia. Indian security agencies were among the first to point to the emerging nexus between organised crime and terror networks. This convergence enabled separatist groups to finance and sustain their agenda, while forcing security agencies to confront syndicates dealing simultaneously in drugs, terror and separatism. Extortion calls, once associated with Mumbai’s underworld of a bygone era, have become the preferred weapon of criminal syndicates to terrorise Indians settled abroad. While victimising fellow Indians, these networks have also tarnished the reputation of the diaspora, often by exploiting vulnerable students as foot soldiers.

The operation offers an opportunity to make the Indian diaspora safer. It is also a chance for India to dismantle the domestic gangs and extortion rackets that are increasingly targeting businessmen across parts of the country. The message should be unambiguous. Youngsters lured by the glamour of gang culture must realise that the path leads not to power or prosperity but to prison or deportation. Syndicates that once appeared untouchable are now being hunted across jurisdictions. India must seize this moment to ensure that organised crime ceases to be a lucrative enterprise, and is seen for what it really is — a high-risk, zero-reward proposition.