Canada warns India to treat Sikh slaying allegation seriously
- The US called for India to reveal what it knows about the killing, calling it ‘critical’ that the perpetrators be brought to justice
- British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly says the UK wants India’s ‘full cooperation’ with Canada in the probe
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday demanded that India treat with “utmost seriousness” his government’s allegations of New Delhi’s possible involvement in the slaying of a Sikh exile, a concern echoed by Washington.
Canada’s assertion led to reciprocal expulsions of an Indian intelligence official from Canada and a senior Canadian diplomat from New Delhi.
“India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate,” Trudeau told reporters.
Canada said on Monday that there were “credible allegations” that agents linked to New Delhi were responsible for the murder June 18 of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, in front of a Sikh cultural centre in a Vancouver suburb.
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Canadian PM says authorities investigating ‘credible’ links to India on Sikh leader’s murder
The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Canada’s allegations “absurd”.