Shared intelligence from the Five Eyes partners informed the Canadian Prime Minister of the possible involvement of Indian agents in the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader, CTV news reported.
Key points:
- US says it expects the Indian government to work with Canada to investigate Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder
- Justin Trudeau says Ottawa had credible intelligence linking Indian agents to Nijjar’s murder
- The Canadian government gathered intelligence from both human and electronic sources for the murder investigation
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa had credible intelligence linking Indian agents to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver, prompting an angry reaction from New Delhi, which denied the allegation.
US Ambassador to Canada David Cohen confirmed that “shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners” had informed Mr Trudeau.
The Five Eyes group, as originally formed as an intelligence-sharing network that included the US, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, has expanded its scope in the past few years.
The Washington Post claimed Mr Trudeau approached Canada’s intelligence allies several weeks ago, and asked them to condemn the murder but he was rejected.
“I will say this was a matter of shared intelligence information,” Mr Cohen told CTV News.
“There was a lot of communication between Canada and the United States about this, and I think that’s as far as I’m comfortable going.”
The Canadian government amassed intelligence from both human and electronic sources in a months-long investigation into the murder, CBC News reported separately on Thursday.
Mr Cohen did not comment to CTV News on the type of intelligence that had informed the Canadian government.
Following Mr Trudeau’s allegation on Monday, tensions between India and Canada have escalated.
On Thursday, India suspended new visas for Canadians and asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country.
The announcement of the visa suspension came hours after Canada’s high commission in India, said it would temporarily “adjust” staff presence in the country after some diplomats received threats on social media platforms.
On Friday, the US made it clear that it expected the Indian government to work with Canada on efforts to investigate the possible involvement of New Delhi agents in Nijjar’s murder.
“We are deeply concerned about the allegations that Prime Minister Trudeau has raised,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in a press briefing.
“It would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. We want to see accountability.”
ABC/Reuters
