US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated he desires India to work with Canada on its investigation into the homicide of a Sikh separatist chief, which has brought about a rift between two of Washington’s key companions.

Blinken stated he mentioned the matter with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar throughout a gathering in New Delhi on Friday.

Canada-India ties have deteriorated since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of orchestrating the assassination of a Sikh separatist chief on Canadian soil in June. India has dismissed the allegations as “absurd.” Since then, commerce talks between the 2 nations have damaged down and India has compelled Canada to chop the variety of diplomats within the nation.

Blinken instructed reporters Friday that resolving the dispute would require Canada shifting ahead with its investigation and India working with Canada on it. 

“As a friend of both, we think it’s very important that India work with Canada on its investigation, and that they find a way to resolve this difference in a cooperative way,” he stated. 

India says it stays involved concerning the the Khalistan motion which goals to create a separate homeland for Sikhs in India. “We have made our position very clear to our friends and partners and they understand and appreciate that,” India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra instructed reporters in New Delhi on Friday after the assembly. 

When requested whether or not the difficulty got here up throughout the talks, the Indian diplomat didn’t deny the discussions or the renewed US request for India to hitch Canada’s investigations.

The India-Canada spat has put the US in a clumsy place. Washington has spent years courting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a part of an Indo-Pacific technique to clip China’s financial and army growth. Canada, alternatively, is a key US ally, a part of the Group of Seven and a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance.