India on Tuesday said it noted the remarks of a senior Canadian police official stating that investigators probing the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar have found no evidence linking Indian government agents to the assassination.
The comments by Lisa Moreland, the deputy commissioner of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), came last week after the US authorities charged jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his aide Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar of ordering Nijjar’s assassination.
Moreland’s comments contradicted the then Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation linking the Indian government agents to the Sikh separatist’s murder.
“We have seen the announcements made by the US department of justice regarding the indictments and enforcement action against transnational organised criminal networks operating across several countries,” external affairs ministry (EAM) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing.
He said India has consistently maintained that transnational organised crime, terrorism, narco-trafficking, human trafficking, illegal firearms trafficking and related criminal networks pose a serious threat to our societies.
“India and the US enjoy strong and growing cooperation in combating terrorism as well as transnational organised crime. Our agencies have worked closely together over the years, and this cooperation continues to deepen. Jaiswal said India noted the remarks made by the RCMP deputy commissioner. “These remarks are consistent with the recently unsealed US indictment which attributes responsibility to the members of the Lawrence Bishnoi organised crime group,” he said.
Weeks after Nijjar’s killing outside a gurudwara in British Columbia, Trudeau made the sensational allegation linking the Indian government to the Sikh separatist’s murder.
New Delhi had categorically dismissed the charges as “absurd”. As relations hit rock bottom following Trudeau’s allegations, India accused Ottawa of allowing pro-Khalistani elements to operate from Canadian soil.
In October 2024, India recalled its high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and five other diplomats after Ottawa attempted to link them to the Nijjar case. India also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.
However, Liberal Party leader Mark Carney’s victory in the parliamentary election in April last year helped rebuilding the relations.
