The United States on Tuesday called on India to take seriously allegations by Canada of an assassination plot, as tensions escalated between the two US partners.
“When it comes to the Canadian matter, we have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously. And we wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
“Obviously, they have not,” he said. “They have chosen an alternate path.”
India and Canada on Monday expelled each other’s ambassadors as Ottawa alleged that Indian involvement in a campaign against Sikh separatists went beyond what was previously known, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying New Delhi had made a “fundamental error.”
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Tensions have soared since Canada alleged that the Indian government was involved in last year’s killing outside a Sikh temple of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an advocate for an independent Sikh state who had immigrated to Canada and become a citizen.
The United States has alleged a similar, albeit unsuccessful, assassination plot by India on US soil but has handled the matter more quietly.
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An Indian “Enquiry Committee” formed in response to the US allegations was visiting Washington on Tuesday to discuss the case, the State Department said.
India “has informed the United States they are continuing their efforts to investigate other linkages of the former government employee and will determine follow up steps, as necessary,” the State Department said.
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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said of India: “The fact that they sent an Enquiry Committee here, I think, demonstrates that they are taking this seriously.”
The United States has been courting India for more than two decades, seeing it as a natural partner in the face of a rising China, despite rights groups’ charges of a closing democratic space under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.