’Khalistani Nijjar’s killing violation of rule of law’: Canada’s PM Trudeau seeks ‘changes in how India govt operates’

India and Canada are embroiled in a battle of allegations that has sired a firestorm of diplomatic row between the two countries, over the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June at a Sikh holy shrine in British Columbia's Surrey, in June this year. 

While Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has remained unfazed about his ‘credible allegations’ made against India, accusing the latter of being involved in the June killing of the Khalistan terrorist, India has over and again refuted and binned such claims. 

Nijjar's killing: Allies support for PM Trudeau

In an interview published by US media outlet New York Times, PM Trudeau cracked down on his allegations and said that Canada-based Nijjar's killing on ‘Canadian soil’ is ‘absolutely unacceptable.’

When PM Trudeau was asked whether his allies have been supporting him in his allegations against India, he said, “Every ally I have spoken to, bar none, has been unequivocal that this sort of violation of a country’s sovereignty and of the rule of law is absolutely unacceptable. I think people are quietly waiting to see how things unfold. But standing up for the rule of law isn’t a momentary thing. It’s a process that happens over weeks and months.”

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Nijjar's killing: What PM Justin Trudeau wants?

In the interview published by New York Times, PM Trudeau has mentioned that the ‘most fitting’ resolution to the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar would be, “a number of people thrown in jail, convicted. A series of lessons learned and changes made to the way the Indian government and the intelligence services operate”. 

India-Canada row over Nijjar's killing

Prime Minister Trudeau addressing a press conference on Friday, had said, “Canada has shared the credible allegations that I talked about on Monday with India. We did that many weeks ago...We hope that they engage with us so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious matter. That's important”, amid spiraling deterioration of relationship between Modi and Trudeau.

Meanwhile, United States seems to be caught in quandry as experts suggest Joe Biden is likely to favour India, over Canada, is a situation arises, while others suggest that US would stand for the American bastion in this predicament.

India has over the years maintained that Canada, among other countries have deliberately remained silent on claims of Khalistan terrorism in their countries. The tension with Canada magnified and surfaced after PM Trudeau alleged there could be "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Nijjar on his country's soil on June 18 in British Columbia.

India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

Notably, PM Trudeau's allegations came only days after he went back from Delhi, India, after attending the Group of 20 (G20) summit. The allegation about the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar also came after US President Joe Biden spent much of the past few months courting India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking to draw him closer to the American orbit, in a bid to woo in its geopolitical contests with Russia and China.