Five Eyes Alliance, Which Helped ‘Lead’ Canada PM Trudeau To Claims On Nijjar’s Death

Zaheer Hussain
September 25, 2023
209

Since Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Alleged In His Country’s Parliament On September 19 That The Indian Government May Have “Potential Links” To The Killing Of Separatist Leader Harmeet Singh Nijjar In Canada, The Ties Between The Two Countries Are Under Strain.

Five Eyes Alliance, Which Helped ‘Lead’ Canada PM Trudeau To Claims On Nijjar’s Death

Why In The News?

Since Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Alleged In His Country’s Parliament On September 19 That The Indian Government May Have “Potential Links” To The Killing Of Separatist Leader Harmeet Singh Nijjar In Canada, The Ties Between The Two Countries Are Under Strain.
US Ambassador To Canada David Cohen In An Interview Said It Was “Shared Intelligence Among Five Eyes Partners” That Helped “Lead” Canada To The Claims That PM Trudeau Made.

What Is Five Eyes Alliance?

“Five Eyes” Refers To An Intelligence-sharing Alliance Of The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada And New Zealand.
These Partner Countries Share A Broad Range Of Intelligence With One Another In One Of The World’s Most Unified Multilateral Arrangements.

Origin Of Five Eyes Alliance

The Alliance’s Origins Can Be Traced Back To The 2^nd World War. The UK And The US Decided To Share Intelligence After Successfully Breaking German And Japanese Codes, Respectively.
In 1943, The Britain-USA (BRUSA) Agreement Laid The Foundations For What Would Become The UK-USA (UKUSA) Agreement, After UK Computer Scientist Alan Turing’s Visit To Washington And Several Bilateral Visits Between The Two Countries’ Officials.
UKUSA Was Signed In 1946. Canada Joined It In 1949, And New Zealand And Australia Did So In 1956, Forming The Alliance. The Agreement Was Not Officially Acknowledged Though Its Existence Was Known About From The 1980s. But In 2010, The UKUSA Agreement Files Were Released.

How Does The Alliance Work?

Countries Often Engage With Each Other On Matters Of Intelligence Gathering And Security. In Recent Years, Common Interests, Such As Balancing The Rise Of China, Have Led To A Closer Alignment Among The Five Eyes Countries.
In 2016, The Five Eyes Intelligence Oversight And Review Council Came Into Being. It Includes The Non-political Intelligence Oversight, Review, And Security Entities Of The Five Eyes Countries. They Exchange Views Of Mutual Interest, Compare Best Practices, Hold Conference Calls & Gather In Person Annually.

However, That Closeness Has Not Always Meant Uniformity In Their Foreign Policy. Since 2021, New Zealand Has Stayed Away From Issuing An Outright Condemnation Of Chinese Actions Due To Deep Trade Ties Between Them, With China Being The Biggest Market For New Zealand’s Exports.
Meanwhile, The US Has Also Sought To Exert Its Influence Through Other Groupings With Like-Minded Countries On Issues Of Security, Like The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) Featuring Itself, Japan, Australia And India. The AUKUS Grouping Similarly Includes Australia, The UK And The US.

Role In The Current India-Canada Issue?

Countries Like The US, The UK And Australia Especially Are Seen As Close To India. They Also Have Significant Indian And Indian-Origin Populations Within Them, Like Canada. Further, They Have Also Seen Some Instances Of Pro-Khalistan Activities In The Last Few Years.

But Due To Their Historical Closeness To Canada And The Alliance On One Hand, And India Increasingly Asserting Itself When It Comes To Global Affairs On The Other, Showcasing Outright Support For India Or Canada Is Unlikely.
But Still The United States, Could Play A Mediating Role In The Issue Once They Have Clear Intelligence And Information On The Matter. Canada Could Also Approach The US And Other Partners To Share Additional Information On The Investigation, Given Their Wider Networks And Capabilities.

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Zaheer Hussain

Senior Lecturer General Studies, SSBCrackExams, Passionate Teacher, Masters in Public Administration, Expertise in Polity, History and Current Affairs. Loves Food and traveling Solo.