Jaishankar's reply on Nijjar killing: 'Not part of Five Eyes...asking wrong person' | Watch
Jaishankar reacted to reports that some Sikh leaders claimed FBI alerted them about threats after Nijjar's killing in Canada.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar addressed reports that intelligence on the killing of Hardeep Nijjar was shared among the Five Eyes and once again reiterated that India did not receive any specific information. Replying to the question of a journalist at the Council of Foreign Relations in the US who asked Jaishankar his reaction to the claim that intelligence was shared among the Five Eyes and reports that the FBI has told US Sikh leaders that there are threats, Jaishankar said, "I am not part of the Five Eyes. I am not certainly part of theFBI. So you are asking the wrong person."
The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance among five countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The other part of the question was based on reports that some Sikh leaders in the US claimed that the FBI warned them about threats to their life after Hardeep Singh Nijjar's death in Canada. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged India's role behind the killing setting off a major diplomatic meltdown between India and Canada.
In his reply, Jaishankar again clarified India's stand and reiterated that if Canada has something specific, they should inform India.
At the event, Jaishankar spoke about the India-Canada issue and said India has told Canada that this is not the policy of the Indian government and that Canada should share with India if they have something specific. "In the last few years, Candana has actually seen a lot of organised crime relating to secessionist forces. Organised crime, violence and extremism are all very, very deeply mixed up. In fact, India has been talking about specifics and information. We have been badgering Canada about organised crime, and terrorist leaders who have been identified. If you have to understand what is going on there, you have to factor in the environment there. Our concern is that it's really been very permissive because of thepolitical situation. Consulates have been attacked, diplomats have been threatened," Jaishankar said.
"A lot of this is often justified, as saying that's how democracies work. If somebody gives me something specific, it doesn't have to be restricted to Canada. But if there's any incident which is an issue and somebody gives me something specific, as a government, I would look at it," Jaishankar said.
