Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Information shared by members of an intelligence-sharing alliance was part of what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used to make public allegations of the Indian government’s possible involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the U.S. ambassador to Canada said.

“There was shared intelligence among ‘Five Eyes’ partners that helped lead Canada to [make] the statements that the prime minister made,” U.S. Ambassador David Cohen told Canadian CTV News network.

CTV News released some of Cohen’s comments late Friday, and the network said that it would air the full interview with the U.S. envoy on Sunday. No further details were released about the shared intelligence.

On Thursday, a Canadian official told The Associated Press that the allegation of India’s involvement in the killing is based on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, including intelligence provided by a major ally — without saying which one.

The “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance is made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The relationship between Canada and India reached its lowest point in recent history when Mr. Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh separatist, in June in a Vancouver suburb. Both countries have expelled some top diplomats.

India, which has called the allegations “absurd,” also has stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens and told Canada to reduce its diplomatic staff.

Canada has yet to provide public evidence to back Mr. Trudeau’s allegations.

Nijjar, a plumber who was born in India and became a Canadian citizen in 2007, had been wanted by India for years before he was gunned down in June outside the temple he led in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President Joe Biden was “ mindful of the serious allegations” made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the killing of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the White House’s strategic communications Chief, John Kirby has said, as he urged India to cooperate in the investigation. Mr Trudeau alleged on Monday that Indian government agents were involved in the June 18 killing of the separatist leader in Canada, an allegation that New Delhi has rejected.

“Certainly the President is mindful of these serious allegations … and they are very serious … and we support Canada’s efforts to investigate this,” Mr Kirby told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Also read | Canada not looking to ‘provoke’ India, says PM Trudeau; urges New Delhi to take killing of separatist Sikh leader Nijjar seriously

“We believe a fully transparent, comprehensive investigation is the right approach so that we can all know exactly what happened and of course we encourage India to cooperate with that.”

Asked if the U.S. , as a ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence sharing partner of Canada, knew what the allegations were based on, Mr Kirby demurred, saying he wanted to respect the sanctity of the investigation. In terms of the fallout if the allegations were true, Mr Kirby said once the facts were available “you can start to look at recommendations or behaviours you might want to pursue”.

The U.S. is going to stay in touch with both its partners, India and Canada, about this issue, Mr Kirby told CBS News.

The U.S. was “ deeply concerned “ about the allegations, U.S. NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson had said on Tuesday, adding that it was critical that “ the perpetrators be brought to justice.”

India’s lack of response prompted Trudeau to go public: Canada’s UN Ambassador

In conducting its probe into Mr Nijjar’s death, the government of Canada had used “energetic , quiet diplomacy” with the Modi government over the last few weeks, according to Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae.

Mr Rae nalleged that the government was not engaging with the Canadian side adequately, prompting Mr Trudeau to publicize the issue.

“I don’t think anybody who really looked at this objectively would say that Canada has anything to gain from making the statement that the Prime Minister made yesterday. It was not a partisan statement, it was a statement about [sic] deep concern.” Mr Rae told CBC News on Tuesday.

“We didn’t see much coming from the other side,” he said, adding that this prompted Mr Trudeau to go public.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson at 10 Downing Street said work on the trade negotiations with India “continue as before”. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.K. government said on September 19 that the “serious allegations” over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada will not impact its own ongoing trade negotiations with India.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson at 10 Downing Street was asked about the impact the issue may have on India-U.K. relations after a government spokesperson said the U.K. remains in “close touch” with the Canadian authorities.

It follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in Parliament on Monday that it is pursuing “credible allegations” of “potential” Indian links to the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Chief of Khalistan Tiger Force and a designated terrorist. Canada also expelled an Indian diplomat.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi on Tuesday strongly rejected the claims as “absurd and motivated” and dismissed a senior Canadian diplomat in a reciprocal move.

“We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations,” a UK. government spokesperson said.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities,” the spokesperson said.

Later, when Mr. Sunak’s spokesperson was pressed on the matter, he said work on the trade negotiations with India “continue as before”.

India and the U.K. earlier this month agreed to continue to work at pace towards a “landmark” free trade agreement (FTA).