Toronto Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for India to take “seriously” concerns over its links to the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar -- hours after an American federal court in New York indicted an Indian national in connection with a thwarted “plot” to allegedly kill Sikhs for Justice general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun in New York.
“The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we’ve been talking about from the very beginning -- which is (that) India needs to take this seriously,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. “The Indian government needs to work with us to ensure that we’re getting to the bottom of this. This is not something that anyone can take lightly,” he added.
Canada’s minister of foreign affairs Melanie Joly, who is in Brussels, echoed Trudeau’s views while speaking to the media. “We call on India to engage in our own in our own investigation. And I think it is important that they do so,” she said. Joly said she was in contact with external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the matter. “We expect more cooperation on their part and more engagement on their part,” she added.
Meanwhile, Canada’s public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc said, “I think what was filed in a US court today confirms that Canada is not alone at managing these particular threats.” He also stressed there was “very, very high level of collaboration” between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other intelligence partners in the US.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Canada’s public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc said, “I think what was filed in a US court today confirms that Canada is not alone at managing these particular threats.” He also stressed there was “very, very high level of collaboration” between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other intelligence partners in the US.
{{/usCountry}}The unsealed indictment against Nikhil Gupta, 52, in a federal court in New York, linked the Pannun attempt to the killing of Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.
According to the indictment, Gupta mentioned a “big target” in Canada. In a call, he also apparently talked of “four jobs” -- three of them were to be in Canada -- and later shared a video of the slain Nijjar with a man he thought was a hitman he had hired to kill Pannun. The hitman, in reality, was a US intelligence agent, the indictment said.
The indictment added that Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities on June 30 under an extradition treaty between the US and the Czech Republic. His current status wasn’t immediately clear from the indictment .
In October, the Canadian daily Globe and Mail reported that three people were formally warned by law enforcement that their lives were in danger. They included Moninder Singh, former president of the Dasmesh Darbar Gurdwara Sahib and an associate of Nijjar’s Gurmeet Singh Toor, along with a third unidentified person.
Nijjar was the principal figure for SFJ in the province of British Columbia.
On September 18, Trudeau said in the Canadian House of Commons there were “credible allegations” of a potential link” between Indian agents and Nijjar’s killings. Canadian officials had stated at the time that conclusion was derived from information that came from a Five Eyes partner, which is believed to be the US.
While India has already ordered a high-level inquiry related to the US case, such action has yet to be taken with regard to Canada, with India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma saying in a TV interview on Sunday that Canada had yet to provide “specific and relevant” information. India has also maintained that the actions being attributed to its officials were not part of government policy.