Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday called on India to cooperate with an investigation into the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia.
Trudeau said that Ottawa had credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, prompting an angry reaction from New Delhi. Nijjar, 45, was a Canadian citizen.
During a press interaction in New York, Trudeau said, “”As I said on Monday, there are credible reasons to believe that agents of Government of India were involved in killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil. That is something of utmost and foundational importance in a country of rule of law in a world where international rules-based order matters. We have a rigourous and independent justice system. We call upon the Government of India to engage with us to move forward to getting to the truth of this matter.”
“We are not looking to provoke or cause problems. But we are unequivocal about protecting Canadians. That’s why we call upon the Government of India to work with us, to uncover truth of the matter and allow justice and accountability to be surfaced,” the Canadian Prime Minister further said.
Meanwhile, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi early on Thursday said no specific information was shared by Canada on Nijjar’s killing. “We are willing to look at any specific information shared with them but so far nothing has been shared by them. From our side, specific evidence about criminal activities by individuals based on the Canadian soil has been shared with Canada but not acted upon,” he said.
Speaking further Bagchi said Indian diplomats were facing threats in Canada and that the country has become a “safe haven for terrorism.”
“There are security threats to our diplomatic staff there. The larger issue with Canada is that of terrorism and safe havens have been provided there,” the MEA spokesperson said.
