The White House stated Thursday it helps a regulation enforcement investigation into the homicide of a Sikh separatist in Canada however declined to wade into thorny diplomatic issues across the killing that entails India, a key ally in Asia.
The U.S. is in a clumsy spot after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week made the surprising allegation there was a possible hyperlink between “agents of the government of India” and the June killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh Canadian citizen, in a Vancouver suburb.
“As soon as we heard from the Canadian prime minister publicly about the allegations, we went out publicly, ourselves, and expressed our deep concern about them, our support for a law enforcement process to get to the bottom of exactly what happened and to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable,” Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s nationwide safety adviser, stated at a White House briefing.
“I’m not going to get into the substance of private diplomatic conversations, but we are in constant contact with our Canadian counterparts, we are consulting with them closely, we support the efforts that they are undertaking in this investigation and we have also been in touch with the Indian government as well,” he stated.
Mr. Biden has courted India and its prime minister, Narendra Modi, as an financial companion and counterweight to China this 12 months. The White House hosted Mr. Modi for a state dinner, and Mr. Biden praised India as hosts of the G20 summit this month.
Mr. Sullivan feverishly denied that the U.S. would stray from its relationship with Canada, its northern neighbor and very important buying and selling companion.
“I have seen in the press some efforts to try to drive a wedge between the United States and Canada on this issue,” he stated. “I firmly reject the idea that there is a wedge between the U.S. and Canada. We have deep concerns about the allegations and we would like to see this investigation carried forward and the perpetrators held to account.”
Masked gunmen killed Nijjar in Surrey, Canada, whereas he sat in his truck, surprising the Sikh group.
New Delhi officers have denounced Mr. Trudeau’s claims round their involvement as “absurd” and say they haven’t seen proof to again up the allegation.
Nijjar supported a separatist Sikh motion that sought to ascertain the Khalistan nation aside from India. His actions landed him on a terrorist checklist maintained by the Indian authorities.
The fracture between Ottawa and New Delhi deepened on Thursday when India suspended visa companies for Canadian residents.
“Due to operation reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice,” BLS International, which handles visa companies, posted on its web site.
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