Canada NSA met Doval before, during Trudeau trip to Delhi; US says in touch with both govts

She also accompanied Trudeau to the G20 Summit in New Delhi this month, and had a bilateral meeting with Doval on the sidelines.

She is learnt to have discussed the issue of Canadian security agencies actively pursuing “credible allegations” of a potential link of agents of the Indian government to the killing of Nijjar and seeking possible cooperation from Indian agencies.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trudeau had raised the potential link issue as well, which was rejected.

In his statement to the Canadian Parliament, Trudeau said, “Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.”

India has rejected the allegations, calling these “absurd” and “motivated”. It has accused Ottawa of not acting against the Khalistan separatists in Canada, and not sharing any specific information on the killing of Nijjar.

But at the same time, it has opened a window for cooperation, saying if any specific information is provided, New Delhi will be willing to look into it.

The US, meanwhile, has said it supports Canada’s efforts to investigate allegations of India’s involvement in the killing of Nijjar, observing that no country can get any “special exemption” for such activities.

In a statement from the highest level in the US administration on this issue, Jake Sullivan, the US NSA, said Thursday that his country is in touch with both Canada and India over Ottawa’s allegations. “There’s not some special exemption you get for actions like this,” Sullivan told reporters when he was asked about Trudeau’s statement. “It is a matter of concern for us, it is something we take seriously.”

“I am not going to get into the substance of private diplomatic conversations, but we are in constant contact with our Canadian counterparts. We are consulting with them closely. We support the efforts that they are undertaking in this investigation and we have also been in touch with the Indian government as well,” he said.

“We have deep concerns about the allegations and we would like to see this investigation carried forward and the perpetrators held to account. That is what the US has stood for from the moment this emerged in public and we will continue to stand for that until this fully plays its way out,” he said.

Declining to respond to questions regarding evidence in the matter, Sullivan said he is not going to speak on either intelligence or law enforcement matters from this podium. “I will let that process play out. We are in, as I said before, continuous communication and consultation with the Canadian government and we will remain so as we go forward,” he said.