The United States has accused India of not cooperating with Ottawa’s investigation into alleged links between Indian government agents and incidents of violence in Canada, including the targeting of Sikh separatists.
“When it comes to the Canadian matter, we have made it clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously,” US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing on Tuesday in Washington. “And we wanted to see the Government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation. Obviously, they have not chosen that path.”
The remarks came a day after Canadian police officials alleged that Indian government agents were collaborating with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s group to plan and execute serious criminal activity in Canada, including homicides and extortion.
On Monday, The Washington Post reported that Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing near Vancouver in June 2023 was part of a larger campaign of violence against Indian dissidents. This campaign is alleged to have been orchestrated by a senior Indian official and an operative from the Research and Analysis Wing, India’s external intelligence agency, the report alleged, quoting unnamed Canadian officials.
Canadian officials reportedly identified the Indian official who authorised information-gathering missions and attacks on Sikh separatists as Union Home Minister Amit Shah. India’s foreign ministry has not yet responded to the allegation about Shah’s involvement.
The allegations from Canada came shortly after the Indian government said it was withdrawing High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and some other diplomats from the North American country. It also announced that it had expelled six Canadian diplomats.
On Tuesday, an investigative committee from India was in Washington DC to look into an alleged assassination plot against another Sikh separatist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Miller said during the press briefing that the timing of the committee’s meeting was coincidental and unrelated to the Canadian investigation.
The United States Department of Justice has accused an Indian official of directing a failed plot to kill Pannun, who is considered a designated terrorist in India.
“They [the Indian government] have told us that they are taking the allegations seriously,” Miller said, adding that the Indian government had stated that the alleged acts mentioned in the Department of Justice indictment did not represent New Delhi’s policy.
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