US provided Canada intel on Nijjar's killing: NYT

Washington: The US provided Canada with intelligence after the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but communications intercepted by Ottawa were more definitive and led it to accuse India of orchestrating the plot, The New York Times has reported citing sources. The report came on Saturday as the top US diplomat in Canada confirmed that there was “shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners” that had prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's offensive allegation against India in the killing of a Khalistani extremist on Canadian soil.

The allegations have infuriated India, which rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case. India also accused Canada of being a safe haven for terrorists.

Nijjar, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), was killed in Surrey in British Columbia on June 18. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. The United States has urged India to cooperate with Canada in its investigations. "In the aftermath of the killing, US intelligence agencies offered their Canadian counterparts context that helped Canada conclude that India had been involved," the NYT reported, quoting unnamed allied officials as saying. Yet what appears to be the “smoking gun,” intercepted communications of Indian diplomats in Canada indicating involvement in the plot, was gathered by Canadian officials, allied officials said.

David Cohen, US Ambassador to Canada, in an interview with CTV News said that "shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners" had informed Trudeau of the possible involvement of Indian agents in the murder of a Canadian citizen in June. "I will say this was a matter of shared intelligence information. Speaking to ANI, Balwinder Singh whose daughter studies in Canada said, "We are worried, my daughter went to Canada to study, and it's been seven months since she has left. There is news in the media that there is tension going on between both countries (India and Canada). My child is also worried there, she can't focus on her studies."

A group of people on Sunday staged a protest against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, accusing him of supporting Khalistani separatists.