: Caving in to the US pressure on India to cooperate with Canada in investigating the alleged involvement of Indian secret agencies in the murder of a Sikh leader, New Delhi has said that it is now open to looking into any “specific” information the Canadians provide on the incident.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Sikh leader, Hardep Singh Nijjar, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state.
Asked about the allegations at a Council on Foreign Relations event in New York Tuesday afternoon, Jaishankar detailed India’s response in diplomatic engagements.
“One, we told the Canadians that this [trans-border killings] is not the government of India’s policy,” he said. “Two, we told the Canadians saying that look, if you have something specific, if you have something relevant, you know, let us know – we are open to looking at it.”
The killing led to a row earlier this month after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada’s intelligence agencies were investigating whether “agents of the government of India” were involved in Nijjar’s murder.
On Tuesday, Jaishankar was also asked about the “intelligence” shared among the Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing network that includes the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – relating to Nijjar’s murder.
In Washington, the US, meanwhile, said it backed “a full and fair investigation” into Canada’s allegations. “Canada has said it is committed to doing that, and we believe the Indian government should cooperate with it,” US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press conference on Tuesday.
