NEW YORK (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday referred to as on India to cooperate with an investigation into the homicide of a Sikh separatist chief in British Columbia and mentioned Canada wouldn’t launch its proof.

Trudeau mentioned on Monday that Ottawa had credible allegations linking Indian authorities brokers to the homicide of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, prompting an offended response from New Delhi. Nijjar, 45, was a Canadian citizen.

The Canadian authorities has amassed each human and indicators intelligence in a months-long investigation into the Sikh separatist chief’s homicide, CBC News individually reported on Thursday citing sources.

Traditional Canadian allies have up to now taken a comparatively cautious strategy to the matter. Political analysts mentioned this was partly as a result of the United States and different main gamers see India as a counterweight to the rising affect of China.

“There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with … and we’re not looking to provoke or cause problems,” Trudeau mentioned in a press convention in New York on the sidelines of the annual high-level United Nations General Assembly. “But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians.”

“That’s why we call upon the government of India to work with us to establish processes to discover and to uncover the truth of the matter.”

The CBC report mentioned, citing Canadian sources, that no Indian official, when pressed behind closed doorways has denied the allegation that there’s proof suggesting Indian authorities involvement in Nijjar’s dying. India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for touch upon the CBC report.

The report mentioned the intelligence included communications involving Indian officers, amongst them Indian diplomats current in Canada, including that a few of the intelligence was offered by an unidentified ally within the Five Eyes alliance.

Five Eyes is an intelligence-sharing community that features the U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The United States is in contact with each Canada and India over Ottawa’s allegations, U.S. nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan mentioned on Thursday, confirming for the primary time that Washington was speaking to New Delhi in regards to the matter.

“There’s not some special exemption you get for actions like this,” Sullivan informed reporters when requested about Trudeau’s assertion about doable Indian involvement. “It is a matter of concern for us, it is something we take seriously.”

U.S. President Joe Biden and a number of other members of the Five Eyes raised the homicide of Hardeep Singh Nijjar with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after they met on the G20 this month, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The Indian international ministry mentioned Canada had not shared any particular details about the homicide. Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland within the type of an unbiased Khalistani state and was designated by India as a “terrorist” in July 2020.

“As a country with a strong and independent justice system, we allow those justice processes to unfold themselves with the utmost integrity,” Trudeau replied when requested when Canada would launch the proof it had.

India on Thursday suspended new visas for Canadians and requested Ottawa to cut back its diplomatic presence within the nation. Trudeau didn’t reply when requested about these measures.

Speaking individually, an Indian commerce official mentioned there was no purpose for Canadian pension funds to again out of investing within the nation.

(Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington, Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; writing by David Ljunggren; enhancing by Paul Simao, Barbara Lewis and Grant McCool)

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