Blurb: Pro-Khalistan groups are shifting operations from Canada to Azerbaijan, backed by a Pakistan-linked alliance, prompting Indian warnings about emerging transnational security and organized crime threats.
NEW DELHI
Following a political leadership change in Canada, pro-Khalistan separatist groups are shifting their operations to Azerbaijan to escape growing international pressure, intelligence sources revealed.
Under Canada’s new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, both India and Canada now view Khalistani extremism as a shared national security threat. This has forced these organizations to abandon their traditional safe havens in Western nations and seek new international platforms to keep their movement alive.
Security officials have traced this new base to the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), a think tank backed by the Azerbaijani government. Originally formed to counter French colonialism, BIG has recently started hosting large conferences focused on anti-India narratives. Notable events in Baku have drawn global separatist leaders and even a Pakistani provincial minister, who openly honored deceased figures linked to terrorism.
Experts from Disinfo Lab, a research group tracking information warfare, point out that Azerbaijan has almost no Sikh population. They suggest the sudden focus on this issue points to a broader, state-backed political agenda driven by an emerging alliance between Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. Intelligence officials believe Pakistan is actively coordinating this strategy to help separate groups reshape their image from violent extremists into human rights activists.
Indian authorities warn that Azerbaijan may be repeating the mistakes of Western nations. Officials emphasize that these networks often start with political narratives but eventually introduce organized crime, including narcotics and extortion, into the host countries they infiltrate.