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The United Kingdom is in "close touch" with its Canadian partners about serious allegations made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on India's link in the alleged assassination of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations," a UK government spokesperson told ANI. It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities, the official said. Notably, India rejected the allegations by Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeauearlier today, regarding the Indian governments involvement in the fatal shooting ofKhalistanTiger Force chief and a designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister, said the MEA in an official statement. Allegations of theIndian governments involvement in any act of violence inCanadaare absurd and motivated the release added. The Indian response came a day after Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeaumade the allegations against the Indian government on Monday (September 18) of being behind the fatal shooting ofKhalistanTiger Force chiefHardeep Singh NijjarinCanada. Najjar, who was wanted inIndia, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area inCanada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Trudeau triggered a diplomatic storm on Monday by saying there was credible evidence India was responsible for the alleged assassination of Hardeep SinghNijjar. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Earlier on Monday, speaking in a debate in the Canadian Parliament, Canadian PM Trudeau claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of theIndian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government ofIndiaand the killing of a Canadian citizen,Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said. He stated that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen inCanada was unacceptable. (ANI)
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