Reuters :The Canadian government has amassed both human and signals intelligence in a months-long investigation of a Sikh activist’s murder, which it has alleged was done by India, CBC News reported on Friday.
The unprecedented tensions flared up on Monday after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June.
The two countries, whose relations have been fraying in recent years over the issue of Sikh separatists, have since announced tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats and issued tit-for-tat travel advisories.
Indian PM Narendra Modi’s government denied any links to the alleged murder. While calling on India to cooperate with the investigation into the murder, Canada said on Thursday it would not release its evidence.
Traditional Canadian allies have so far taken a relatively cautious approach to the matter. Analysts say this is partly because the United States and other major players see India as a counterweight to the growing influence of China.
Today, quoting Canadian government sources, CBC News said the “intelligence includes communications involving Indian officials themselves, including Indian diplomats present in Canada”.
It added that the intelligence “did not come solely from Canada” and some was also provided by “an unnamed ally in the Five Eyes” alliance — an intelligence-sharing network that includes the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Canadian publication went on to add that the slain Sikh leader “reportedly had been warned by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that he was at risk”.
The report further said that “in a diplomatic crisis that unfolded progressively behind the scenes, Canadian officials went to India on several occasions seeking cooperation” in the investigation of Nijjar’s death.
CBC News said that Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Adviser Jody Thomas was in India over four days in mid-August. Another five-day visit this month overlapped with a “tense meeting” between the two countries’ premiers, it added.
The report quoted Canadian sources as saying: “When pressed behind closed doors, no Indian official has denied the bombshell allegation at the core of this case — that there is evidence to suggest Indian government involvement in the assassination of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”
“I can assure you that the decision to share these allegations on the floor of the House of Commons … was not done lightly,” CBC quoted Trudeau as stating yesterday after attending the 78th UN General Assembly in New York. “It was done with the utmost seriousness.”
