US is “in close coordination” with Canada on charges regarding the Indian
Government’s involvement in the killing of separatist terrorist Hardeep Singh
Nijjar, said US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller while responding
to a question related to the matter.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently alleged that the Indian
Government was behind the shooting of Nijjar.
Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in Bharat, was gunned down
outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada’s Surrey, British Columbia on
June 18.
Trudeau, during a debate in the Canadian Parliament, claimed his
country’s national security officials had reasons to believe that “agents of
the Indian Government” carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who
also served as the president of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
However, Bharat has out rightly rejected the claims, calling it ‘absurd’
and ‘motivated’.
Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support
the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Miller said US has engaged with the Indian Government on a number
of occasions to urge them to cooperate with Canada’s investigation.
He said US State Secretary Antony Blinken had an opportunity to
discuss the issue with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar during their meeting on
Friday.
Meanwhile, Trudeau has said Ottawa wants to “work constructively
with Bharat” regarding the allegations.
While addressing a joint press conference with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trudeau said, “In regards to Bharat, Canada has shared the
credible allegations that I talked about on Monday. With Bharat, we did that
many weeks ago. We are there to work constructively with Bharat and we hope
that they engage with us so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious
matter.”
EAM Jaishankar recently said the ongoing problem with Canada has
been there for some years because of the “permissiveness” by the government
regarding terrorism, extremism and violence in the country.
Jaishankar said the current situation can’t be termed a “deadlock”,
adding that the Indian Government is open to looking at any specific and
relevant thing shared by the Canadian side in connection with the issue.
Addressing a press conference in Washington DC, Jaishankar said, “Well,
I don’t know if I would use the term deadlock… The issue is as follows: The
Canadians have made some allegations. We have pointed out to them that this is
not the Government of Bharat’s policy and if they are prepared to share with us
specifics and anything relevant, we are also open to looking at it. So in that
sense, that’s where the matter stands”.
“But what we do not want to see is an incident treated in isolation
because then that somewhere does not convey the right picture,” he added.
The EAM said the ongoing problem with Canada is because of the “permissiveness”
regarding terrorism, extremism and violence in the country.
Bharat has suspended its visa services in Canada, following
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s allegations of Indian involvement in the
killing.
Amid strained ties, Bharat issued an advisory for its citizens and
those who are travelling to Canada to exercise “utmost caution in view of
growing anti-Bharat activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and
criminal violence” in the country.
ANI
