Trudeau aide says India co-operating with Canada amid tension over murdered Sikh

India is co-operating with Canada and bilateral ties are improving after tensions spiked over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia, a top Canadian official told CTV in an interview published on Friday.

Diplomatic relations soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last year said Canada was “actively pursuing credible allegations” that Indian agents were potentially linked to the June, 2023, murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. India has denied any formal government role in Mr. Nijjar’s murder.

“I wouldn’t describe them [the Indians] as not co-operating. I think we’ve made advancements in that relationship,” Jody Thomas, Mr. Trudeau’s national-security adviser, told CTV.

CTV published an excerpt from the interview on its website on Friday. The full interview will be aired on Sunday.

Canada has been pressing India to co-operate in its investigation of Mr. Nijjar’s killing. Last November, U.S. authorities said they had thwarted a plot 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,” Ms. Thomas told CTV. Mr. Trudeau said in December he sensed a change in New Delhi’s tone with Ottawa after the U.S. case.

The acrimony has delayed discussions on a free-trade deal and threatened Canada’s plans to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, where New Delhi’s co-operation is critical to efforts to check an increasingly assertive China.

 

“Our ability to function in the Indo Pacific does rely on having a healthy relationship with India. And I think that we are working back towards that,” Ms. Thomas said. Around two million Canadians, or 5 per cent of the population, have Indian heritage.

Canada withdrew 41 diplomats from India after New Delhi in September asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence following Mr. Trudeau’s remarks.

 

This article was reported by CTV News