India-Canada Row: India rejected the allegation as “absurd”.
New Delhi:
Amid strains in India-Canada ties, Canadian Defence Minister has called his country’s ties with India “important”.
“We understand that this can be, and has proven to be, a challenging issue with respect to our relationship with India. But at the same time, we have the responsibility to make sure that we conduct a thorough investigation and get to the truth,” Bill Blair was quoted as saying by Global News.
A top US diplomat yesterday said that there was “shared intelligence” among ‘Five Eyes’ partners behind Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s big charge against India.
His comments came a day after US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that Washington is “deeply considered” about the allegations and that they want to see accountability in the case.
Last week, Justin Trudeau made the explosive charge that “Indian government agents” could be behind the shooting of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India rejected the allegation as “absurd”.
He also claimed that such “credible allegations” were shared with India weeks ago. “Canada has shared the credible allegations that I talked about on Monday with India. We did that many weeks ago. We are there to work constructively with India. We hope that they engage with us so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious matter,” Trudeau told a news conference on Saturday.
Canada has shared no specific information regarding its charges, India said, flagging “politically condoned hate crimes and criminal violence” in that country. Both India and Canada issued travel advisories and expelled a senior diplomat of the other country.
India has advised its nationals in Canada and those contemplating travelling there to exercise “utmost caution” in view of growing anti-India activities and “politically-condoned” hate crimes.
Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada’s British Columbia in June. He was chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and one of India’s most wanted terrorists.
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