Canada provided ‘irrefutable evidence of ties’ between India govt agents and Nijjar’s killing: Top diplomat counters MEA

Canadian Charge d’Affaires Stewart Wheeler countered India's claim on Monday, saying, “Canada has done what India has long been asking for. Canada has provided credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the government of India and murder of Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”

Stewart Wheeler's statement came after he was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday evening. His first comment after the meeting referred to the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations. He had alleged last September that “agents" of the Indian government had role in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs said that since Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, "the Canadian Government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side."

However, Canada's top diplomat Wheeler said that Canada provided "credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the government of India and murder of Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”

"Now, it's up to India to live up to what it said it would do and look into those allegations. It is in the interest of both our countries and people of both our countries to get to the bottom of this. Canada stands ready to cooperate...," Wheeler said.

Tensions between India and Canada escalated on Monday when India outrightly rejected as "preposterous imputations" Canada's indication linking the Indian high commissioner to Ottawa to the investigation into the alleged killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India received a "diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are 'persons of interest' in a matter related to an investigation in that country".

"The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau government that is centred around vote bank politics," it said.

Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia in June last year. New Delhi rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".