Blinken urges Indian cooperation in Canada’s Sikh murder probe

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Indian counterpart on Thursday about the killing of a Sikh separatist advocate in Canada and urged India to cooperate fully with the Canadian investigation into the killing, a State Department spokesperson said.
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar confirmed on Friday he had spoken to Blinken and the U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan about Canadian allegations on New Delhi’s possible involvement in the June killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.
“They shared U.S. views and assessments on this whole situation and I explained to them at some length … a summary of the concerns which I had,” Jaishankar said at an event hosted by the Hudson Institute in Washington.
Ties between Indian and Canada have become seriously strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told parliament earlier this month that Canada suspected Indian government agents were linked to the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The incident has put the United States in an awkward spot diplomatically, given Canada is a neighbor and a formal ally and Washington has been intensely focused on developing relations with India as a key partner in its effort to push back against expanding Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.