India asks Canada for information on Sikh leader's murder

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - NEW YORK — India is open to looking into any "specific" information Canada provides on the killing of a Sikh separatist leader, the country's foreign minister said.

S Jaishankar was referring to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June.

Tensions flared up after Canada recently said it was investigating "credible allegations" linking the Indian state with the murder.

India dismissed the claim as "absurd".

Jaishankar said that the Indian government had told Canada that it was open to investigating any "relevant" allegations about the murder while insisting that Delhi had no role in it. He was speaking at an event in New York ahead of his address at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

"One, we told the Canadians that this [extrajudicial killings] is not the government of India's policy," he said. "Two, we told the Canadians saying that look, if you have something specific, if you have something relevant, you know, let us know — we are open to looking at it."

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a temple in British Columbia in June. He had been designated a terrorist by India in 2020 - an allegation his supporters vehemently deny.

The Indian government has often reacted sharply to demands by Sikh separatists in Western countries for Khalistan, or a separate Sikh homeland.

The Khalistan movement peaked in India in the 1980s with a violent insurgency centred in Sikh-majority Punjab state.

It was quelled by force and has little resonance in India now, but is still popular among some in the Sikh diaspora in countries such as Canada, Australia and the UK.

Meanwhile, the minister added that India had given Canada "a lot of information about organized crime and leadership" relating to secessionist forces operating out of the country.

"The picture is not complete without the context," he said. "You also have to appreciate that in the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organised crime relating to the secessionist forces, organised-crime, violence, extremism, they're all very deeply mixed up."

"There are a large number of extradition requests. There are terrorist leaders, who have been identified," Jaishankar said.

The row burst into the open earlier this month after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada's intelligence agencies were investigating whether "agents of the government of India" were involved in Nijjar's murder.

Following Canada's allegation, India had issued a sharp statement saying that it had "strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada" who it accused of "promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats".

Both countries have since expelled a diplomat each of the other nation. Last Thursday, India also suspended visa services for Canadians citing security concerns at its diplomatic missions in the country.

On Tuesday, Jaishankar was also asked about the "intelligence" shared among the Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing network that includes the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, relating to Nijjar's murder.

A US diplomat in Canada had last week confirmed that "there was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that helped lead Canada to making the statements that the prime minister made".

Jaishankar said, "I'm not part of The Five Eyes, I'm certainly not part of the FBI. So I think you're asking the wrong person."

The US, meanwhile, said it backed "a full and fair investigation" into Canada's allegations.

"Canada has said it is committed to doing that, and we believe the Indian government should cooperate with it," US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press conference on Tuesday. — BBC