India will not provide information to Canadian investigators over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader until Canada shares evidence, India’s high commissioner to Canada told the Globe and Mail newspaper in an interview published on Monday.
“We need relevant and specific evidence for us to help the Canadian authorities,” high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma told the Globe and Mail a week ago.
“Unless we see something relevant and specific, it would be extremely difficult for us to do anything to help the Canadian authorities.”
The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Surrey city on June 18.
India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India has rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
The Canadian allegations were followed by a US indictment in November outlining a foiled plot to kill a Canadian-American Sikh activist, the report said.
In November, the US federal prosecutors charged that one Nikhil Gupta was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. Though the separatist Sikh leader was not named, media reports identified him as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the leader of the Sikhs for Justice, an organisation banned in India.
{{/usCountry}}In November, the US federal prosecutors charged that one Nikhil Gupta was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. Though the separatist Sikh leader was not named, media reports identified him as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the leader of the Sikhs for Justice, an organisation banned in India.
{{/usCountry}}India has already constituted a probe committee to investigate allegations by the US prosecutors.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar told the Rajya Sabha earlier that Canada has not shared any specific evidence or inputs with India.
Days after Trudeau’s allegations in September, India temporarily suspended the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity.