India’s high commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, has revealed that the Indian government is cooperating with a US investigation into an alleged thwarted assassination attempt and not Canada’s investigation into the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia due to a disparity between the information the two countries shared in their investigation.
While speaking to CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, Verma disclosed that his understanding is that United States authorities have released more specific information in respect of the investigation with India than Canada has revealed and that is likely the differentiating factor in the level of India’s collaboration in both cases.
UK-based Financial Times recently published a report claiming that the US thwarted a plot to allegedly assassinate India-designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in America.
According to the report, the US shared its views with India regarding the alleged plot to kill Pannun.
Recall that in September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made allegations regarding the involvement of India in Nijjar’s killing.
India rejected the allegations and called them “absurd” and politically motivated.”
While speaking further, Verma said India was “absolutely” and “decidedly” not involved in the homicide and termed it a “motivated and absurd allegation.”
The allegations triggered diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
The Indian envoy revealed that that ties between India and the US are not under his purview. Meanwhile, his understanding is that authorities in India are cooperating in the American investigation as they have been furnished with “inputs which are legally presentable.”
He said: “One is that the investigation in the case of the US, as far as I know, and understand because again, I don’t oversee India-US relations is at a much advanced stage. And therefore, I presume that there would be better information shared within India.”
He talked about Canada’s inputs in relation to Nijjar’s killing and said that Indian authorities would not be able to respond on the case as conversations could have some facts of the case. Meanwhile, allegations and facts do not make it specific and relevant.
When asked whether the national security advisor in Canada shared inputs related to allegations related to Nijjar’s killing, he said: “Until the time it is not specific or relevant to the case, we will not be able to respond to it. There could be a lot of conversation. Conversations could have allegations, and conversations could have some facts of the case, but allegations and facts do not make it specific and relevant.
“So we need to have those facts. And we are always ready to do that. If you look at the most recent incident where there are some allegations put out in one of the newspapers against India, the US did provide us inputs. And we have already started following up on that.”
Verma revealed that conversations between India and Canada happened during Canada’s National Security Adviser’s visit to India.
He however added that India needed specific information to request permission from legal authorities to conduct an investigation.
While revealing details regarding the inputs released by the US with India, Verma said that these inputs are regarding a connection between gangsters, drug peddlers, terrorists and gun runners in the United States and there are beliefs that it has some Indian connections, which according to him were not government of India connections.
He said: “Those inputs are a nexus between gangsters, drug peddlers, terrorists, and gun runners in the U.S., and there is a belief that some of the Indian connections — now when I say Indian connections, I don’t mean the government of India connections, there are 1.4 billion people, so some of the Indian connections are there — they are ready to investigate. Because we have got inputs, which are legally presentable.”
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