Outgoing Canadian national security advisor Jody Thomas on Friday said that India is now cooperating with Canada in its investigation into the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the country’s parliament that intelligence agencies were actively pursuing “credible allegations” linking agents of the Indian government to the death of Nijjar in Vancouver, a Canadian citizen. New Delhi had rejected Canada’s allegations as “absurd and motivated”.
Nijjar was a supporter of Khalistan, an independent Sikh nation sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is designated a terrorist outfit in India.
Trudeau’s allegations had strained diplomatic ties between India and Canada.
Thomas, also a former deputy defence minister, who retired as the security advisor on Friday, said this during an interview to television news channel CTV on that day.
“I would not describe [India] as not co-operating,” Thomas said in response to a question about New Delhi’s alleged response to Ottawa’s allegations. “My discussions with my counterpart in India have been fruitful, and I think they’ve moved things forward.”
In December, Trudeau said that the decision to go public with information about the alleged involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Nijjar was meant to “put a chill” on New Delhi considering such actions.
More than two months after Trudeau’s allegations, the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, in November also announced that it had filed “murder-for-hire charges” against an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta in connection with his alleged participation in a thwarted plot to assassinate another Sikh separatist leader. Though the statement did not name the leader, a report in the Financial Times on November 23 identified him as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
In December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Financial Times that his government would look into any evidence shared by the United States in this matter.
Trudeau had also said that the United States indictment appeared to have resulted in India softening its approach towards Canada.
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