India and Canada Cooperate on Sikh Separatist Killing Probe: Canada Outgoing NSA
NEW DELHI: The outgoing national security advisor of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government Jody Thomas has said India is now cooperating with investigations over the killing of Sikh separatist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar and described the changing relationship as an “evolution.”
In an interview with Canadian media house CTV, Ms Thomas said Canada has made advancements in that relationship. “My discussions with my counterpart in India have been fruitful and I think they have moved things forward,” she said.
Canada had alleged the Indian government’s involvement in the murder of Nijjar, with Mr Trudeau calling it “credible allegations”, a charge India has constantly denied. However, in December last year, things took a different turn when the US department of justice announced it had charged an Indian national Nikhil Gupta in connection with a failed attempt to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil and the unsealed indictment also revealed a connection to the killing of Nijjar.
India promptly agreed to cooperate with the US on the allegations. India’s high commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma told CTV then that it was easy to cooperate with the US investigation and not with Canada’s “because of a disparity between the information both countries have shared in their probes”.
Mr Verma said that, as per his understanding, the US authorities have shared more specific information with India over the course of an investigation than Canada has and that is likely the differentiating factor in the level of India’s cooperation in both cases.
Ms Thomas said the US indictment and India’s cooperation with Canada are “connected for sure.”
“The information that they (the US) revealed supported our position and our assertions with India. India is working with us and my counterpart, in particular, far more closely to resolve this,” said Ms Thomas.
