US calls on India to assist Canada in its investigation into the killing of a Khalistani separatist

According to a US State Department source, the Biden administration has spoken with the Indian government on many times and urged them to assist Canada in its investigations into the killing of a Khalistani separatist.

Following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusations of “potential” participation of Indian operatives in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June, bilateral relations between India and Canada underwent significant pressure.

In retaliation for Ottawa’s decision to dismiss an Indian official over the matter, India rejected the accusations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian ambassador.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought up Nijjar’s death in Canada at a meeting with Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar last week.

In answer to a query from a Pakistani journalist, State Department spokeswoman Mathew Miller said, “As he made clear then, I’ll reiterate now, we remain in close coordination with our Canadian colleagues on this question.”

“We have spoken with the Indian government on many occasions to request that they assist Canada’s probe. In his Friday discussion with the foreign minister, the secretary had the chance to accomplish that, he added.

When asked whether India had agreed to work with Canada, Miller said that this was a question for New Delhi to answer.

“I will let the Indian government speak for themselves and I will speak on behalf of the United States government, and we urge that cooperation,” he added.

The governments of India and Canada would need to speak with one another in order to try to work out their differences about the matter, according to Jaishankar, who also stressed the need of bringing up and addressing the more significant problem of “permissiveness” in his remarks to media last week.

“The problem is that the Canadians have leveled certain accusations. We have made it clear to them that this is not Indian government policy, but if they are willing to provide details and other pertinent information, we would be willing to consider it. So that’s where the situation sits, in that sense,” Jaishankar added.