US urges India to cooperate with Canada on Sikh murder probe

The United States Friday urged India to cooperate with Canada in its investigation into the murder of a Sikh Canadian citizen.

The US statement comes as India-Canada relations have taken a nosedive, with New Delhi suspending visa services for Canadians and Ottawa expelling an Indian diplomat.

Canada has made the allegation that Indian government agents were involved in the murder, a claim New Delhi has rejected.

Calls for India's cooperation

 "We want to see accountability. And it's important that the investigation runs its course and leads to that result," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in New York, where he was taking part in the UN General Assembly on Friday.

 "We would hope that our Indian friends would cooperate with that investigation as well."

Without specifying the details of the allegations, Blinken — the highest US official to have spoken on the matter so far — stressed that the US took "very, very seriously" incidents of "transnational repression."

Blinken said that there was close consultation taking place with the government of Canada.

Canada has also urged India to cooperate with the investigation. Trudeau on Friday said that Ottawa had already shared its concerns with New Delhi before going public with the allegations.

"Canada has shared the credible allegations that I talked about on Monday with India. We did that many weeks ago," Trudeau told reporters.

Allegations of Indian involvement

The killing of Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, is at the center of the matter. On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government had a role to play in Nijjar's murder.

Nijjar was wanted by the Indian government which had charged him with terrorism and conspiracy to murder. He was part of the separatist Khalistan movement which seeks to create an independent homeland for Sikhs.

mfi/kb (Reuters, AFP)