David Cohen, the United States Ambassador to Canada, informed that a “shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners” provided Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with information about the connection between the death of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Indian government.
This week’s international crisis between India and Canada was brought on by the passing of a Khalistani Sikh leader. According to Cohen, Trudeau’s claim was made following information provided by “shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners.”
“There was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that helped lead Canada to make the statements that the Prime Minister made. In the days since, as diplomatic tensions continue to ratchet up – from Canada reassessing its staffing in India, to India suspending visa services for Canadians – there have been swirling questions about what intelligence is at the centre of this story, who was aware of it, and when,” the US Ambassador to Canada told CTV News Channel.
The US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are members of the intelligence alliance known as Five Eyes which includes both surveillance-based and signal intelligence. This is the first confirmation of collaboration between Canada and the Five Eyes allies by a US government official.
A Canada-India diplomatic crisis started when Trudeau accused Indian government officials in the June murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
On June 18, a Canadian citizen named Nijjar was murdered in Surrey, British Columbia. However, in India, he was a wanted terrorist.
The Indian government was urged earlier on Friday by the US to collaborate with Canada in the investigation of Nijjar’s murder.
“We have been consulting throughout very closely with our Canadian colleagues – and not just consulting, coordinating with them – on this issue. And from our perspective, it is critical that the Canadian investigation proceed, and it would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. We want to see accountability, and it’s important that the investigation run its course and lead to that result,” Antony Blinken said.
PM Trudeau said on Monday that Ottawa had credible intelligence linking Indian agents to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver, prompting an angry reaction from New Delhi, which denies the allegation.
The US made clear on Friday that it expected the Indian government to work with Canada on efforts to investigate the possible involvement of New Delhi agents in Nijjar’s murder. “We are deeply concerned about the allegations that Prime Minister Trudeau has raised,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in a press briefing.
“It would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. We want to see accountability.”
The White House has spoken of its concerns over the allegations, but Blinken is the most senior US official to have commented thus far.
Traditional Canadian allies, including the United States, appeared to take a cautious approach to the matter earlier this week. Political analysts said this was partly because the United States and other major players see India as a counterweight to the growing influence of China.
“We have been consulting throughout very closely with our Canadian colleagues, not just consulting but coordinating with them on this issue,” Blinken said.
During a press conference, Trudeau was asked about the allegations, and he repeated his call for the Indian government to cooperate.
“We are there to work constructively with India. We hope that they engage with us so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious matter,” Trudeau said. On Friday, Trudeau also said Canada shared its concerns with New Delhi some time ago. “Canada has shared the credible allegations that I talked about on Monday with India. We did that many weeks ago,” Trudeau told reporters.
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