New Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has demanded India take Ottawa’s allegations ‘seriously’ after the US Justice Department charged an Indian national for murder-for-hire charges linked to an alleged plot to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
“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…Indian government needs to work with us to ensure that we’re getting to the bottom of this,” Trudeau told the media Wednesday in Ottawa.
The Canadian PM asserted that the US indictment highlights that he was correct about his allegations against India.
“We have been working closely with our American counterparts, with partners around the world on the very serious allegations that we shared in September that we believe India was involved – agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil,” Trudeau said.
In Brussels, Trudeau’s cabinet colleague and Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly also urged New Delhi to assist efforts to find Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killers and added that she had had numerous conversations with both her American and Indian counterparts regarding the probe.
“We stand by our own credible allegations that there was a killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil, linking to Indian agents,” Joly said, adding that she would not comment on the US criminal case.
The US indictment, which was unsealed Wednesday before a New York district court, accused Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta and an unnamed Indian government employee of conspiring to assassinate Pannun. Gupta, 52, was arrested by Czech authorities on 30 June.
Pannun has been declared an individual terrorist in India, and his outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) banned as a terror outfit by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The indictment also referred to the June killing of Nijjar, whom it called an “associate” of Pannun and another “leader of the Sikh separatist movement”.
Responding to the US unsealing the indictment, India noted Wednesday that the issue is a “matter of concern” and “contrary” to its government policy.
“During the course of discussions with the US on bilateral security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to a nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and extremists. We take such inputs seriously and a high-level enquiry committee has been constituted to look into all relevant aspects of the matter. Necessary follow up action will be taken based on the findings of the enquiry committee,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press briefing Thursday.
‘Hope 41 diplomats can return to New Delhi’
Meanwhile, the Canadian foreign minister also criticised New Delhi for ‘forcing’ 41 Canadian diplomats to leave after Trudeau levelled allegations linking India to Nijjar’s killing. “It is my hope that the 41 diplomats, who should be working right now in India, are allowed back,” she added.
Earlier this month, Trudeau accused India of “arbitrarily” kicking out 41 diplomats and violating international law. Prior to this, Canada withdrew 41 diplomats and 42 dependents in October alleging that New Delhi’s request for diplomatic parity was a “violation of international law and the Vienna Convention”. This came after India repeatedly sought diplomatic parity with rising tensions between the two countries, giving Canada a deadline of 10 October, which was later extended to 20 October.
The US and the UK had backed Canada’s allegations, with Washington noting that it was “concerned by the departure of Canadian diplomats”. New Delhi rejected these allegations, stating that its actions were “fully consistent with Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention”.
(Edited by Tony Rai)