Canada’s call for condemnation of India by US was met with reluctance: Report

According to a new report by the Washington Post, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, weeks before making the explosive allegations against India regarding the killing of Khalistani leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar tried to seek the condemnation of India by its allies including countries such as US, UK and Australia but was met with reluctance over publicly condemning India. This shows the diplomatic challenges faced by governments and especially the Biden administration as it looks to navigate its relations with India, a key player in the Indian subcontinent region.

The alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar by India, who was a Khalistani supporter, leader and also a Canadian citizen on the 18^th of June let to behind the scenes discussions by the five eyes countries in the weeks leading up to the G20 summit. The report also stated that Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly stated that Trudeau had raised the allegations with President Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with the topic expected to be discussed at the UN General Assembly.

While the United States responded to it saying that they are deeply concerned and emphasised the importance of Canada’s investigation and bringing the perpetrators to justice, Australia raised the issue on the senior levels with India, however, no public mention was made before the G20 summit which was seen as an important event for PM Modi.

The report stated that Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s announcement of ‘credible allegations’ in the parliament caused a significant rupture in the bilateral relations between India and Canada which resulted in the expulsion of an Indian diplomat from Ottawa. “Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” PM Trudeau said on Monday.

The Indian government, however, declined any involvement in the assassination of Nijjar, chief of Khalistan Tiger Force and a designated terrorist and declined Canada’s allegation as baseless and motivated. India in retaliation to the dismissing of its diplomat in Ottawa, also dismissed a Canadian envoy, who was believed to be spying in India for Canada and asked him to leave the country within 5 days, the Washington Post added in its report.

While Justin Trudeau emphasised that Canada was not looking to provoke India or escalate the situation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated.”

According to the report, India has been trying to pressurise countries such as US, UK, Australia and Canada which have a significant Sikh population to crack down on the Pro-Khalistan movement in their countries. Earlier many Pro-Khalistan protests had taken place in these countries but the most recent and significant ones were in London and San Francisco which caused tension with the Indian government.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar is the chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and pro-Khalistan leader who was designated as a terrorist by Indian security forces in 2020. He is also accused of supporting attacks in Punjab. India has previously sought to extradite him in 2022 and linked him with a murder of an Hindu priest in Punjab that same year.

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