FIVE EYES ALLIANCE (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Security)

Context: Recently, amid an escalating diplomatic dispute between India and Canada, a top US diplomat in Canada confirmed that the Canadian Prime Minister's allegations against India in the murder of Khalistani militant Hardeep Singh Nijjar were based on shared intelligence among 'Five Eyes' partners.

Five Eyes Alliance

• About: Five Eyes is a secret agreement between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the USA. This secret agreement allows the intelligence agencies of these five nations to spy on the world.
• Founded: In 1941
• Origin: The Atlantic Charter, which was issued in August 1941 to lay out the Allied goals for the post-war world.
• Member Countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US.

o These countries are parties to the multilateral UK-USA Agreement, a treaty for cooperation in signals intelligence.

o These partner nations exchange a wide spectrum of intelligence within one of the world's most tightly-knit multilateral agreements as part of the collaboration.

• Nine Eyes Group: 5 Eyes Group + Netherlands, Denmark, France and Norway.
• 14 Eyes Group: 9 Eyes Group + Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain and Sweden.