Canada's allegations over Nijjar's killing not part of probe, says govt

By Sudhi Ranjan Sen

India said Canada hasn’t provided specific evidence of New Delhi’s alleged involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader, and the matter isn’t part of the work being undertaken by a panel established to probe similar accusations by the US.
 

New Delhi set up an investigating committee last week after the US alleged that an Indian government agent was involved in the foiled assassination attempt of a Sikh separatist leader in New York. 

Ottawa’s allegations that India orchestrated the murder of another Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil in June are not part of the panel’s investigations, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told parliament on Thursday. Canada hasn’t provided any “evidence or inputs” and there would be “no equitable treatment” in the two cases, he said.

The killing in Canada has severely strained ties with New Delhi, while the US charges have put the Biden administration in an awkward position with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which it is hoping to cultivate further as a bulwark against China. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September publicly accused the Indian government of involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, allegations that India dismissed as “absurd.” Canadian officials had shared evidence with New Delhi, including communications and phone numbers, before Trudeau went public with the allegations, people familiar with the matter have previously said. 

The US allegations emerged last week, adding to evidence that India is waging a campaign to target Sikh activists overseas. US prosecutors didn’t identify the intended victim of the murder plot, but Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American and Canadian citizen who is general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, said earlier he was the target. Pannun was an associate of Nijjar.

Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters separately in New Delhi on Thursday that India had raised concerns with the US and Canada after a Sikh separatist leader in America threatened to attack the South Asian nation’s parliament.

The US and India have sought to downplay the foiled murder attempt amid the Biden administration’s efforts to deepen ties with the world’s most populous nation. Jon Finer, the US deputy national security adviser, visited New Delhi this week, while Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is expected in India next week, the US ambassador in the country said Thursday.