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Trudeau wanted US to publicly condemn Nijjar killing before G20, Washington overlooked

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s efforts to isolate India globally over the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar failed…

Trudeau wanted US to publicly condemn Nijjar killing before G20, Washington overlooked

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US Presdeint Joe Biden (right) and UK PM Rishi Sunak at Rajghat on September 10.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s efforts to isolate India globally over the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar failed miserably after the US and the UK chose not to condemn New Delhi and sought proper investigation.

Nijjar, a designated terrorist and citizen of Canada, was killed on June 18 this year by unidentified assailants in the parking area of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey.

On Tuesday, Trudeau alleged India’s role in Nijjar’s murder, an accusation New Delhi denied and termed “absurd and motivated”.

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According to a report published in The Washington Post, Canadian officials had raised the issue with their counterparts in the United States and other NATO countries weeks before Trudeau made the allegations public and the New Delhi G20 Summit.

The Canadian prime minister wanted his NATO allies to publicly condemn the killing of Nijjar, who was designated as a terrorist by New Delhi in 2020. However, the US authorities chose not to comment on the issue publicly before the G20 Summit, the US daily reported.

Even now, the UK and the US have said that the while the allegations are serious, an investigation should be carried out and perpetrators should be punished. They didn’t condemn New Delhi or repeated Trudeau’s allegations. The UK even said that the issue will not hamper the country’s trade deal with India.

On Tuesday, Trudeau had informed the country’s Parliament that the initial investigation has revealed that an Indian diplomat was behind the murder of Nijjar. The diplomat was expelled from the country. He was later identified as Pawan Kumar Rai, RAW’s Canada station chief.

“Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” PM Trudeau said on Monday.

In retaliation, New Delhi also expelled Canadian intelligence service’s India station chief and asked him to leave in five days. Reacting to Trudeau’s allegations, India’s ministry of external affairs said that the claims made by the Canadian prime minister were “absurd and politically motivated”.

“We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law,” the ministry said in a statement, accusing Ottawa of providing shelter to “Khalistani terrorists and extremists” who threaten India’s sovereignty and security.

“We urge the government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,” the ministry said.

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