Amid strains in India-Canada ties, Canadian Defence Minister has called his country’s ties with India “important”. He, however, also said that Canada wants a thorough investigation into the allegations.
The statement comes days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked up a massive diplomatic row between the two countries over the murder of Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“We understand that this can be, and has proven to be, a challenging issue with respect to our relationship with India. But at the same time, we have the responsibility to make sure that we conduct a thorough investigation and get to the truth,” Defence Minister Bill Blair was quoted as saying by Global News.
“If the allegations are proven true, there is a very significant concern that Canada will have with respect to the violation of our sovereignty,” he said.
Top US diplomat David Cohen claimed that it was the “shared intelligence among ‘Five Eyes’ partners that had prompted Justin Trudeau go public with his big charge against India.
Last week, the Canada Prime Minister made the explosive charge that “Indian government agents” could be behind the shooting of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India rejected the allegation as “absurd”. Canada has shared no specific information regarding its charges, India said, flagging “politically condoned hate crimes and criminal violence” in that country. The foreign ministry has advised its nationals in Canada and those contemplating travelling there to exercise “utmost caution”
Justin Trudeau also claimed that such “credible allegations” were shared with India weeks ago. “Canada has shared the credible allegations that I talked about on Monday with India. We did that many weeks ago. We are there to work constructively with India. We hope that they engage with us so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious matter,” he told a news conference on Saturday.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that Washington is “deeply considered” about the allegations and that they want to see accountability in the case.
India has also accused Canada of not acting upon “specific evidence about criminal activities” done by Canada-based individuals. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has prepared a list of 19 fugitive Khalistani terrorists living in UK, US, Canada, Dubai, Pakistan and other countries whose properties are also likely be confiscated, sources said.
With inputs from NDTV
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