OTTAWA: After tensions escalated over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia, a top Canadian official told CTV in an interview that was published on Friday that India is working with Canada and that bilateral relations are strengthening.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the previous year that Canada was “actively pursuing credible allegations” that Indian agents were perhaps implicated to the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, in June 2023, diplomatic ties deteriorated. India has denied that the government played any official part in the murder of Nijjar.
When it comes to the Indians, I would not characterize them as being uncooperative. Jody Thomas, who serves as Trudeau’s national security adviser, stated to CTV that he believes there have been improvements made in the relationship.
On Friday, a portion of the interview was posted available on the website of CTV television. The complete interview is scheduled to be shown on Sunday.
The Canadian government has been exerting pressure on India to cooperate with the inquiry into the murder of Nijjar. The police in the United States said in November of last year that they had foiled a conspiracy to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States.
“The information that they (the Americans) revealed supported our position and our assertions with India, and India is working with us … far more closely to resolve this,” Thomas told Canadian television. After the United States case, Trudeau stated in December that he felt a shift in the tone that New Delhi was using with Ottawa.
As a result of the acrimony, discussions on a free-trade agreement have been postponed, and Canada’s intentions to increase its influence in the Indo-Pacific area have been endangered. In this region, the assistance of New Delhi is essential to efforts to curb an increasingly assertive China.
The maintenance of a positive relationship with India is essential to our capacity to carry out our duties in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, I believe that we are making progress in the direction of that,” Thomas stated. An estimated two million people in Canada, or five percent of the total population, have Indian ancestry.
Following the remarks made by Trudeau, the Canadian government withdrew 41 diplomats from India in response to a request made by New Delhi in September to reduce the country’s diplomatic presence.
