Daily Times

The US has said it supports Canada’s efforts to probe the killing of a Sikh separatist leader on its soil – in which Ottawa alleges India has been involved – and urges New Delhi to cooperate in the investigation. “We believe a fully transparent comprehensive investigation is the right approach so that we can all know exactly what happened, and of course, we encourage India to cooperate with that,” John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council (NSC), said while speaking to CNN. Kirby termed Canada’s allegation “very serious” and said US President Joe Biden was mindful of the accusation. Asked whether the US knew what intelligence Canada based its allegation on, Kirby replied: “I am going to be careful about what I say here to preserve the sanctity of this investigation and leave it for Canada to talk about the underpinning information here and what more they are trying to learn. “We want to respect that process and it’s their investigation.” To a question about possible repercussions if it was proved that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the killing, he said: “Let’s not get ahead of where we are. There’s an active investigation and we think it needs to be fully transparent and comprehensive. “We know that Canada will work to that end.

Again, we urge India to cooperate with that investigation … Once we have all the facts and we have conclusions that we can draw from that, then you can start to look at recommendations or behaviours you might want to pursue.” Separately, another NSC spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, denied reports that the US had “rebuffed” Canada over the matter. She shared a post on X by Washington Post, which said: “President Biden has aggressively wooed India’s Modi as a counterweight to China. That effort is now complicated by Canada’s explosive allegation that Indian officials may have been behind the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia.”

Reacting to it, Watson said: “Reports that we rebuffed Canada in any way on this are flatly false. We are coordinating and consulting with Canada closely on this issue. This is a serious matter and we support Canada’s ongoing law enforcement efforts. We are also engaging the Indian government.”

Previously, the US and Australia had expressed “deep concern” over Canada’s accusations, while Britain said it was in close touch with its Canadian partners about the “serious allegations”.

“We have been in close contact with our Canadian colleagues about this. We’re quite concerned about the allegations. We think it’s important there is a full and open investigation and we would urge the Indian Government to cooperate with that investigation,” a senior State Department official had said.

He said US authorities were in close contact with their Canadian counterparts about allegations the Indian government was involved in the murder and urged India to cooperate with the investigation.

In Canberra, a spokesperson for Australian foreign minister Wong had said Australia was “deeply concerned by these allegations and notes ongoing investigations into this matter”.

“We are closely engaged with partners on developments. We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India,” said the Australian official.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had said his government backed a Canadian investigation to determine whether India was involved in Nijjar’s killing.

“I think it’s incredibly important that we allow the Canadian authorities to conduct their investigation,” said Cleverly, adding it would be “unhelpful” to speculate on their outcome.