India should take Canada allegations 'seriously,' US says

The United States on Tuesday waded into the diplomatic spat between Canada and India, urging the latter to take the former's allegations of an assassination plot seriously.

"When it comes to the Canadian matter, we have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

"We wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation," he added. "Obviously, they have not; they have chosen an alternate path."

India and Canada are key partners of the United States, but both on Monday expelled each other's top diplomats over Canadian allegations that Indian government agents were involved in a violent campaign against Sikh separatists on its soil.

Ottawa has alleged in particular that New Delhi was involved in the assassination last year of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an India-born advocate for an independent Sikh state who had immigrated to Canada and become a citizen.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said India had made a "fundamental error."

Does the United States share Canada's concerns?

The US desire to see India take the matter "seriously" is rooted in similar allegations made by Washington over a similar, albeit unsuccessful, assassination plot by India on US soil in November 2023.

An Indian "Enquiry Committee" formed in response to the US allegations was visiting Washington on Tuesday to discuss the case, the State Department said.

India "has informed the United States they are continuing their efforts to investigate other linkages of the former government employee and will determine follow up steps, as necessary," the State Department said.

"The fact that they sent an Enquiry Committee here, I think, demonstrates that they are taking this seriously," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

How has Canada-India trade been affected?

Meanwhile, despite the tensions, Canadian and Indian government officials have said that there has been no immediate negative impact on bilateral trade ties.

"I want to reassure our business community that our government remains fully committed to supporting the well-established commercial ties between Canada and India," Canadian trade minister Mary Ng said in a statement late on Monday.

"We will work closely with all Canadian enterprises engaged with India to ensure these important economic connections remain strong."

Canada primarily exports minerals, pulses, potash, industrial chemicals and gemstones to India and while goods such as pharmaceuticals, marine products, electronic equipment, pearls and precious stones go in the other direction.

But an Indian government source told the Reuters news agency: "We are not immediately concerned about trade ties. Our bilateral trade with Canada is not very large."

Bilateral trade between India and Canada amounted to $8.4 billion (€7.7 billion) at the end of the last fiscal year on March 31, according to India's trade ministry, marginally up on the previous year.

India's foreign ministry says more than 600 Canadian companies have a presence in India in sectors including IT, banking, and financial services.

Canadian Sikh leaders accuse India of hiring hitmen

Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada’s center-left New Democratic Party (NDP), called the allegations "deeply disturbing" in a video shared by Reuters news agency.

Singh, a Sikh, said that official investigations "painted a picture of a foreign government engaging criminal elements in Canada to perpetrate violence against Canadians."

He called for sanctions against some Indian diplomats in Canada with links to the right-wing Indian paramilitary the RSS.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist based in Canada and the US, has also allegedly been targeted for assassination by Indian agents. He told DW that he was "not surprised" to be on a "hit list" since "India declared me a terrorist" in 2019.

Pannun has maintained that his Khalistan referendum movement seeks a peaceful separation from the Indian state of Punjab, where many Sikhs live.

He accused the Modi government of trying to hire hitmen from within the Sikh community.

mf,es/msh (Reuters, AFP)