Vote Bank Politics: S Jaishankar On Canada Blaming India Over Nijjar's Killing

India will wait for the Canadian authorities to share more information about the three men arrested in connection with the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

On Friday, the authorities arrested three Indian nationals, residing in Edmonton. They are identified as Karan Brar (22), Kamalpreet Singh (22), and Karanpreet Singh (28). They have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

According to a report in Reuters, the External Affairs Minister claimed that he had seen news of the arrests and said the suspects "apparently are Indians of some kind of gang background... we'll have to wait for the police to tell us."

"But, as I said, one of our concerns which we have been telling them is that, you know, they have allowed organized crime from India, specifically from Punjab, to operate in Canada," said the Indian foreign minister.

The three are believed to be members of an alleged hit squad tasked by the government of India with the killing of Nijjar, 45, outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. "The investigation does not end here. We are aware that there are others out there that played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to identifying and arresting each one of them," PTI quoted Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, Officer in Charge of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), as saying.

The three men were arrested for the murder of Nijjar Friday morning by IHIT investigators, with the assistance of members from the British Columbia and Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Edmonton Police Service. They have been living in Canada as non-permanent residents for the last three to five years.

On asking why the Canadian Prime Minister made allegations against India, S Jaishankar said, "Canada did not give any proof. They do not share any evidence with us in certain cases, police agencies also do not cooperate with us. It is their political compulsion in Canada to blame India. As elections are coming in Canada, they indulge in vote bank politics," the external affairs minister said.

Responding to the development, Sanjay Verma, India's high commissioner to Canada, said that it hopes to get regular updates from the authorities.

"I understand that the arrests have been made as a result of investigations conducted by the relevant Canadian law enforcement agencies. This issue is internal to Canada and therefore we have no comments to offer in this regard," Verma added.

Relations between India and Canada deteriorated after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian of being involved in the killing of Nijjar last September. India rejected Trudeau's allegations as "absurd" and "motivated."