Urged India to cooperate with Canada in its probe into Khalistani separatist's death: US official

Washington, October 3

The Biden Administration has engaged with the Indian government on a number of occasions urging them to cooperate with Canada in its investigations into the death of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a US State Department official has said.

The issue was raised by Secretary of State Tony Blinken during his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here last week.

“As he made clear then, I’ll reiterate now, we remain in close coordination with our Canadian colleagues on this question,” State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference.

“We have engaged with the Indian government on a number of occasions to urge them to cooperate with Canada’s investigation. The secretary had an opportunity to do that in his meeting with the foreign minister on Friday,” he said.

When asked if India had agreed to cooperate with Canada, Miller said this is for New Delhi to respond to.

“I will let the Indian government speak for themselves and I will speak for the United States government, and we urge that cooperation,” he said.