British Secretary James Cleverly said Britain has a very strong relationship with India and China
New York:
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Tuesday that his government is backing a Canadian investigation to determine whether India was involved in the killing of a Khalistani separatist, in a case that has strained ties between Ottawa and New Delhi.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday alleged the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in the June killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and announced an investigation by Canadian intelligence.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar is accused of carrying out terrorist attacks in India. But the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the idea it ordered a hit was “completely absurd”.
James Cleverly, who is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, told AFP he met Justin Trudeau on Monday and discussed the matter.
“I think it is incredibly important that we allow the Canadian authorities to conduct their investigation,” Mr. Cleverly said, adding that it would be “not helpful” to speculate on their outcome.
“Clearly we have a very strong relationship with Canada, a very strong relationship with India,” he continued, adding that he expected “full cooperation” from India in the investigation.
Ottawa has expelled a diplomat it described as the head of India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing in Canada, prompting a tit-for-tat order from Delhi for a Canadian diplomat to leave.
Hardeep Nijjar, a Canadian citizen declared a wanted terrorist by India, was shot and killed on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver.
Canada has the world’s largest population of Sikhs outside India, and Delhi has long been dissatisfied with Canada’s handling of Sikh separatists.
Nijjar was part of a movement that advocated the creation of an independent Sikh state to be carved out of Punjab.
In Britain – home to around 500,000 Sikhs – Khalistani separatist Avtar Singh Khanda died in a Birmingham hospital in June after suddenly falling ill, prompting speculation that it may have been a deliberate killing.
But “West Midlands Police have already said they do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances,” Cleverly said.
Analysts say Canada’s accusation would put India in line with countries like Saudi Arabia that assassinate political opponents abroad.
Punjab, which is 58 percent Sikh and 39 percent Hindu, was rocked by a violent separatist movement in the 1980s and early 1990s that left thousands of people dead.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
