‘Credible evidence’ India behind killing of Canadian Sikh leader, says Trudeau

Justin Trudeau has said determination is “credible evidence” India is liable for the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a salient Canadian Sikh leader.

The allegations from Canada’s premier curate is apt to further strain relations betwixt the 2 nations. On Monday, Trudeau told the House of Commons of Canada that, successful caller weeks, nationalist information authorities had been probing allegations that New Delhi was down a state-sponsored assassination.

He said helium raised the contented “in nary uncertain terms” with the Indian premier minister, Narendra Modi, erstwhile the 2 met concisely successful New Delhi past week for the G20 summit.

“Any engagement of a overseas authorities successful the sidesplitting of a Canadian national connected Canadian ungraded is an unacceptable usurpation of our sovereignty,” helium said. “Canada is simply a regularisation of instrumentality country, the extortion of our citizens successful defence of our sovereignty are fundamental.

“Our apical priorities person truthful been one, that our instrumentality enforcement and information agencies guarantee the continued information of each Canadians. And two, that each steps beryllium taken to clasp perpetrators of this execution to account.”

Trudeau said the alleged sidesplitting “is contrary to the cardinal rules by which free, open, and antiauthoritarian societies behaviour themselves”.

The New Democratic enactment leader, Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh, said determination indispensable beryllium consequences for the assassination. “To perceive the premier curate of Canada corroborate a imaginable nexus betwixt a execution of a Canadian national connected Canadian ungraded by a overseas authorities is thing I could ne'er person imagined,” helium said.

“We volition guarantee that nary stone is unturned, that each imaginable nexus is examined.”

The Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, said the allegations, if true, “represent an outrageous affront to Canada”, adding that citizens should beryllium escaped from extrajudicial killings.

He added: “Canadians merit to beryllium protected connected Canadian soil. We telephone connected the Indian authorities to enactment with utmost transparency arsenic authorities analyse this murder, due to the fact that the information indispensable travel out.”

In June, Nijjar was changeable and killed successful beforehand of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara successful Surrey, British Columbia. He was a beardown advocator of the Khalistan movement, which seeks an autarkic homeland for Sikhs successful India’s Punjab region.

New Delhi had antecedently alleged Nijjar was portion of a program to execution a Hindu clergyman successful Punjab, offering a bounty of astir $12,000 (£9,688). The fatal shooting of Nijjar led galore to impeach India of playing a relation successful the killing.

“Today, the premier curate of Canada has publically said what Sikhs successful Canada person known for decades – India actively targets Sikhs successful Canada,” said the World Sikh Organisation.

The overseas affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, said Canada would expel a “key Indian diplomat” successful the coming days and “expects India to afloat collaborate with america and yet to get to the bottommost of this”.

The diplomat is the caput of the Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), India’s overseas quality bureau successful Canada. “We’ll clasp the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice,” said the nationalist information minister, Dominic LeBlanc, adding the RCMP was starring the execution investigation.

The Indian precocious committee successful Ottawa did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The announcement comes a week aft Trudeau was successful New Delhi for the G20, wherever determination were signs of tensions with Modi. After the meeting, Modi’s bureau said the Indian person had “strong concerns astir continuing anti-Indian activists of extremist elements successful Canada”.

India and Canada person been negotiating a commercialized agreement, but talks person been paused.