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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday said the decision to publicly accuse the Indian government of involvement in the killing of a Khalistani extremist leader was not made “lightly”. India has rejected the “unsubstantiated” allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and said they “seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada.”
Meanwhile, separate media reports said that Trudeau’s allegations were based on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada and that US President Joe Biden and other world leaders had raised Canada’s concerns surrounding Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing on Canadian soil with PM Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit earlier this month.
As tensions between India and Canada mount, here are the latest developments on the issue.
A day after India said that the Canadian government is yet to provide any proof to back up its allegations, Canadian media house CBC News reported that their government had collected "human and signals intelligence" in a "months-long investigation" into the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Quoting unnamed Canadian government sources, the report said the intelligence included communications involving Indian officials, including Indian diplomats present in Canada.
However, India has said that the Canadian government has not shared any specific information on the killing, adding that if they were to do so, New Delhi would be willing to look into it.
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Meanwhile, the CBC News report said that the intelligence came not just from Canada. A member of the 'Five Eyes' intelligence-sharing alliance — which includes the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — reportedly provided intelligence with regard to this as well. However, no mention of the ally, details of what was contained in the communications or how they were obtained have been revealed so far.
Nijjar's killing is still under investigation in Canada. The country's UN ambassador, Bob Rae, told reporters that these are "very early days" in the investigations and that while facts will emerge, they must “come out in the course of the pursuit of justice."
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden and other leaders had conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi their concern on the Canadian PM's claims, when the leaders had attended the G20 summit earlier this month, reported the Financial Times.
Biden had felt it was important to raise the issue directly with his Indian counterpart, the report said, quoting an unnamed person familiar with the discussions at the G20 summit.
The report said that several members of the 'Five Eyes' had raised concerns surrounding Nijjar's killing on Canadian soil, and said that this came after Canada urged its allies to raise the issue with PM Modi directly, but in private.
Separately, on Thursday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the media that the US is in touch with Canadian and Indian officials at the highest levels on the matter. He added that Washington is giving India no "special exemption" in the matter.
"As soon as we heard from the Canadian Prime Minister publicly about the allegations, we went out publicly ourselves and expressed our deep concern about them, our support for a law enforcement process to get to the bottom of exactly what happened, and to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable," he said.
"I'm 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 added. "It is a matter of concern for us. It is something we take seriously. It is something we will keep working on and we will do that regardless of the country."
"There's not some special exemption you get for actions like this. Regardless of the country, we will stand up and defend our basic principles and we will also consult closely with allies like Canada as they pursue their law enforcement and diplomatic process," he said in response to queries from the press.
Earlier, the White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson had said that the US was "deeply concerned" about the allegations and that it is "critical that Canada’s investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice."
Meanwhile, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau reiterated calls for cooperation from the Indian government on the matter.
"The decision to share these allegations on the floor of the House of Commons was not done lightly,” Trudeau said, speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with."
"We're not looking to provoke or cause problems. But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians. That's why we call upon the government of India, to work with us to establish processes to discover and to uncover the truth of the matter and to allow justice and accountability to be served," he added, as per a PTI report.
When asked about the diplomatic row, Trudeau said, "We call upon the government of India to take this matter seriously and to work with us to shed full transparency and ensure accountability and justice in this matter," reported PTI.
"We are a country of the rule of law. We are going to continue to do the work necessary to keep Canadians safe and to uphold our values and the international rules-based order. That's our focus right now," he added, responding to a query on whether the Trudeau government will take any retaliatory measures following India's suspension of visa services for Canadians.
The relationship between India and Canada turned frosty earlier this week after PM Trudeau, speaking in the Canadian Parliament, said that the Indian government was potentially involved in Nijjar killing in British Columbia's Surrey. India has rejected the allegations as "absurd and motivated", and the two nations have expelled a high-ranking diplomat each in a tit-for-tat move.
In a sign of escalating tensions, India has suspended visa services in Canada as of Thursday, affecting travel plans of Canadian nationals who intended to visit India, but did not have a visa yet (Here's a quick primer on what happens next). While speaking to the media later that day at the UNGA, Trudeau had side-stepped questions on whether his government would be matching the move.
Nijjar, who was born in India but became a Canadian citizen in 2007, is designated a terrorist in India. He was shot dead by two unidentified individuals outside a gurudwara late on June 18. Here's a detailed profile of the separatist leader.
Canada has no place for acts of aggression, hate, intimidation or incitement of fear, its government said on Friday, as a video of Hindu Canadians being told to leave the country gained traction online.
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