On Thursday, Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, urged India to cooperate with a Canadian probe into the killing of a Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, during his meeting with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the foreign minister of India, a US official said.
Earlier on Thursday speaking in Quebec, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has alleged the significant role of India in the murder, said he was sure that Blinken would discuss the matter with Jaishankar.
New Delhi has rejected Ottawa’s allegations as absurd, and relations have become strained with both countries’ governments removing a diplomat in a tit-for-tat act.
Though a State Department statement made no mention of the issue, the US official said, “Blinken raised the Canadian matter in his meeting, (and) urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada’s investigation.”
Earlier this month, Trudeau told parliament that Canada suspected Indian government agents were linked to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the province of British Columbia in June.
Nijjar was a citizen of Canada but India had declared him a “terrorist.”
He backed the cause of Khalistan, or a self-dependent homeland for Sikhs to be carved out of India.
Traditional Canadian supporters, including the United States, have seemed to carry a careful approach to the issue. Political reviewers have said this is partly because the US and other main players see India as a counterweight to the growing power of China.
Blinken met Jaishankar on Thursday afternoon in Washington. Questioned instantly whether Blinken would raise the case, Trudeau answered: “The Americans will definitely discuss this matter with the Indian government.”
The US State Department’s formal statement on its website after Blinken met the Indian foreign minister made no mention of Nijjar’s killing or Canada as a whole.
A brief State Department summary of the matters concerned in the meeting between Blinken and Jaishankar, formally called a readout, listed points like India’s G20 presidency, the creation of an India-Middle East-Europe corridor, and topics like defense, space, and clean energy.
On Tuesday, Jaishankar said that India has told Canada it was available to look into any “specific” or “relevant” details it delivers on the killing.
Trudeau, who is yet to share any evidence, said last week he shared the “credible allegations” with New Delhi “many weeks ago.”
