The US on Tuesday urged India to cooperate with Canada’s investigation into the killing of Sikh separatist chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, calling the allegations “extraordinarily severe.” State Division spokesperson Matthew Miller famous that whereas the US had hoped for India’s cooperation, its choice to expel the Canadian excessive commissioner signalled that it had “chosen an alternate path.”
“In terms of the Canadian matter, we now have made clear that the allegations are extraordinarily significantly severe and so they should be taken significantly.And we wished to see the Authorities of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation. Clearly, they haven’t chosen that path,” Miller mentioned throughout a press briefing.
Diplomatic tensions between India and Canada escalated on Monday as India introduced the withdrawal of its Excessive Commissioner and different focused diplomats, adopted by the expulsion of six Canadian diplomats. This choice got here after ministry of exterior affairs summoned Canadian chargé d’affaires Stewart Wheeler in response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s severe allegations in opposition to New Delhi.
Additionally learn: India expels 6 Canadian diplomats after recalling Excessive Commissioner
The MEA condemned Canada’s “baseless focusing on” of Indian officers, stating that Trudeau’s actions endangered their security in an environment of extremism and violence. India expressed a scarcity of religion within the Canadian authorities’s dedication to guard its diplomats and warned of additional actions.
The diplomatic dispute between India and Canada has escalated sharply since June 2023, when Nijjar was killed outdoors a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. India designated Nijjar a terrorist in 2020, accusing him of involvement in extremist actions.
Miller additionally clarified that there had been ongoing discussions with India on the “senior-most ranges” in latest months, and that India had conveyed to the US that the actions outlined within the Division of Justice indictment didn’t replicate Indian authorities coverage.
Regardless of these tensions, Miller mentioned that the US nonetheless views India as an essential accomplice, significantly of their shared imaginative and prescient for a free and open Indo-Pacific area. “India continues to be an extremely sturdy accomplice of the USA,” he mentioned, including that each international locations have candid conversations at any time when they’ve issues. “When we now have issues, we now have the type of relationship the place we are able to take these issues to them and have frank, candid conversations,” he mentioned.
In response to latest bomb threats in opposition to Air India flights, Miller mentioned, “Any type of threats in opposition to industrial aviation are inappropriate and handled extraordinarily significantly by our personal legislation enforcement companies”.
