After the death of khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in Canada, Canada had claimed that Delhi was involved in the murder of the khalistani terrorist. This created quiet some complications between both the countries. Now the Financial Times has reported that, US President Joe Biden, along with other leaders have shown concern over this matter to PM Modi in the G20 meeting that took place this month. Nijjar had called out for the establishment of a separate Sikh state and was on the wanted list by the NIA and Punjab police in multiple cases.
People close to the matter have said that the concern regarding the june killing was raised by several members of the Five Eyes. 5 Eyes is an intelligence sharing network which has members from the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The intervention comes after Canada urged it’s allies to raise concern directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 meet. Meanwhile, there was no immediate response from the White House over the Financial Times’ report.
However, this situation has put the western countries in a tight spot because Canada has been a long standing partner and ally and they also want to have strong ties with India to counter the influence of China in the Asia Pacific region. Recently, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan had expressed his concern about the allegations made by Canada and said that he wanted to support the investigation so that the perpetrators can we bought to justice. He said this during White House Press briefing that was held on Thursday.
Amid all this, India has sternly rejected all the claims that the Canada has made so far. Moreover, the allegations have been called absurd. In fact, India’s Foreign ministry has stated that Canada had not shared any specific information about the killing of the separatist. He was 45 years old and was killed in front of a Sikh Temple in the city of Surrey which is in Canada’s province of British Columbia. Nijjar was titled as a terrorist by India in July 2020.
