NEW YORK- American spy agencies gave assistance, but communicationsintercepted by Canada were more definitive in linking India to the killingof Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar that has heightened tensionsbetween Canada and India, The New York Times reported Sunday.
Quoting Western allied officials, the leading American newspaper said USintelligence agencies offered their Canadian counterparts context thathelped Canada conclude that India had been involved. Yet, it said, whatappears to be the “smoking gun,” intercepted communications of Indiandiplomats in Canada indicating involvement in the plot.
While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on India to cooperatewith the Canadian investigation, American officials have largely tried toavoid triggering any diplomatic blowback from India, it was pointed out.
But the disclosure of the involvement of US intelligence risks ensnaringWashington in the diplomatic battle between Canada and India at a time whenit is keen to develop New Delhi as a closer partner, the report said.
The US did not learn about the plot or evidence pointing to India’sinvolvement in it, until after operatives had killed the Sikh leader,Nijjar, the Times said, quoting allied officials.
Two men fatally shot Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who had advocatedindependence for the Indian Punjab, in the Vancouver area on June 18.
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In New York, Pakistan said it was not “surprised” by Canada’s revelationsthat the Indian government was involved in the murder of the pro-Khalistanleader.
Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar linked the episodeto Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ideology of Hindu nationalism orHindutva.
“These ideologues of Hindutva, they are becoming emboldened in a mannerthat they are now going beyond the region,” Kakar said at the Council onForeign Relations in New York as he took part in the UN General Assembly.
The “unfortunate killing of Mr Singh on Canadian soil is a reflection ofthat ominous tendency,” Kakar said.- APP/AFP