BackOn Canada's probe in Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing, India gets ‘advice’ from US
US 'deeply concerned' about Canada's allegations against India in the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
PremiumThe United States is ‘deeply concerned’ about Canada's serious allegations against India that the country's agents were potentially involved in the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, said national security spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday.
Kirby said that the White House encourages India to cooperate in any investigation by Canada, according to a report published by Reuters.
“We are deeply concerned. We encourage India to fully cooperate," Kirby said.
Kirby said that news reports that the US rejected or brushed off Canada's allegations are untrue. “There's been some press speculation out there ... that the United States rebuffed Canada in terms of talking about their investigation, and I just want to stress that those reports are just flatly false, untrue."
Also Read: Live updates on India-Canada news
Canada and India's relation have hit rock bottom after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's bombshell statement on Tuesday accusing the Indian government agency of killing Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.
However, India has rejected allegations by Canada. “We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," the Ministry of External Affairs said.
"Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the statement said.
In a tit-for-tat move, India also instructed a senior Canadian diplomat to leave the nation in five days. It was customary for India to reciprocate the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat with a reciprocal move.
India called upon Canadian Ambassador Cameron MacKay to convey its decision to expel the "senior Canadian diplomat". This action was taken in direct response to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official in connection with the demise of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
(With Reuters inputs)
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