India-Canada Row: The United States on October 15 urged India to take allegations about the assassination of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar “seriously” and “cooperate with Canada in its investigation”, AFP reported.
Tensions have escalated between Canada and India after the former alleged Indian government links to the 2023 murder of Canadian citizen and Khalistani movement leader Nijjar outside a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
India has denied the accusations and blamed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for “playing vote bank politics”.
Things came to a head this week, as both countries expelled their top envoys along with other diplomats after Trudeau alleged that India's involvement in last year's slaying of the Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil “went beyond what was previously known” and that New Delhi made a “fundamental error”, the AFP report added.
As relations between India and Canada unravel, Washington urged India to take Canada's allegations seriously.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, “When it comes to the Canadian matter, we have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously. And we wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation. Obviously, they have not. They have chosen an alternate path.”
Notably, the US too has made a similar allegation, but “more quietly” about an unsuccessful assassination attempt of Khalistani separatist and Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leader Gurpant Singh Pannun by India on US soil, the AFP report added.
The State Department added that an investigative committee formed by India to probe these allegations was in Washington on October 15 to discuss the case.
“India has informed the US they are continuing their efforts to investigate other linkages of the former government employee and will determine follow-up steps, as necessary,” the Department added.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby lauded the visit, saying, “The fact that they sent an Enquiry Committee here, I think, demonstrates that they are taking this seriously.”
(With inputs from AFP)
