'Have chosen an alternate path': US criticises India for not cooperating with Canada on Nijjar killing allegations

The United States on Tuesday asked India to take seriously allegations by Canada of an assassination plot, as tensions escalated between the two US partners.

#WATCH | "...We have made clear that the Canadian allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously and we wanted to see the Government of India cooperate with Canada and its investigation. But, India has chosen an alternate path..." says US Department of… pic.twitter.com/Eqb7JSAUon

— ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2024

“When it comes to the Canadian matter, we have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously. And we wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

“Obviously, they have not,” he said, adding, “They have chosen an alternate path.”

The comments came after India and Canada expelled each other’s top diplomats in response to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and other alleged crimes, further straining their already tense relations.

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Monday’s tit-for-tat expulsions came after Canada told India on Sunday that its top diplomat in the country is a “person of interest” in the 2023 assassination of Nijjar, and that police have uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens by agents of the Indian government.

Ottawa alleged that Indian involvement in a campaign against Nijjar went beyond what was previously known, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying New Delhi had made a “fundamental error.”

Tensions between the two countries soared after Canada alleged that the Indian government was involved in last year’s killing of Nijjar outside a Sikh temple.

The United States has alleged a similar, albeit unsuccessful, assassination plot by India on US soil but has handled the matter more quietly.

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.

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

The United States has been courting India for more than two decades, seeing it as a natural partner in the face of a rising China, despite rights groups’ charges of a closing democratic space under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to a Washington Post report, citing experts, the diplomatic standoff will make it difficult for both countries to move forward with a once-promising partnership, and could impact India’s ambitions as it tries to project itself as a rising world power.

“India-Canada bilateral relations, which have been on a downslide since last year, will take a further hit which will take a long time to repair,” Washington Post quoted Praveen Donthi, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, as saying.

With inputs from agencies