US ‘won’t get too involved’ in India-Canada spat over Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing, key Biden donor Charles Myers says

The founder of political strategy firm Signum Global Advisors said Biden was likely to keep a distance from the dispute to avoid disrupting Washington’s ties with Delhi

Canada has said there’s ‘credible’ evidence that links to the Indian government to the murder of the separatist leader

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Pakistani Sikhs protesting in Quetta on Saturday against India over the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 1:29pm, 24 Sep 2023

The Joe Biden administration is likely to try to stay out of the diplomatic dispute between Canada and India as much it can, aiming not to disrupt the progress it’s made in its relationship with Narendra Modi’s government, the founder of political strategy firm Signum Global Advisors said.

“We’re doing everything we can to engage with India to try to help outcompete China, and I don’t think the United States is going to get too involved” in the dispute, Signum Chairman Charles Myers said.

Myers, former vice-chairman at Evercore, is a long-time Democratic Party donor who has raised money for Biden.

Canada and India relations have been strained over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was shot on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week there’s “credible” evidence that links to the Indian government to the murder of Nijjar, who was an advocate for an independent Sikh nation in northwestern India. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau said.