The White House said Thursday it supports a law enforcement investigation into the murder of a Sikh separatist in Canada but declined to wade into thorny diplomatic matters around the killing that involves India, a key ally in Asia.
The U.S. is in an awkward spot after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week made the shocking allegation there was a potential link between “agents of the government of India” and the June killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh Canadian citizen, in a Vancouver suburb.
“As soon as we heard from the Canadian prime minister publicly about the allegations, we went out publicly, ourselves, and expressed our deep concern about them, our support for a law enforcement process to get to the bottom of exactly what happened and to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable,” Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, said at a White House briefing.
“I’m not going to get into the substance of private diplomatic conversations, but we are in constant contact with our Canadian counterparts, we are consulting with them closely, we support the efforts that they are undertaking in this investigation and we have also been in touch with the Indian government as well,” he said.
Mr. Biden has courted India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as an economic partner and counterweight to China this year. The White House hosted Mr. Modi for a state dinner, and Mr. Biden praised India as hosts of the G20 summit this month.
Mr. Sullivan feverishly denied that the U.S. would stray from its relationship with Canada, its northern neighbor and vital trading partner.
“I have seen in the press some efforts to try to drive a wedge between the United States and Canada on this issue,” he said. “I firmly reject the idea that there is a wedge between the U.S. and Canada. We have deep concerns about the allegations and we would like to see this investigation carried forward and the perpetrators held to account.”
Masked gunmen killed Nijjar in Surrey, Canada, while he sat in his truck, shocking the Sikh community.
New Delhi officials have denounced Mr. Trudeau’s claims around their involvement as “absurd” and say they haven’t seen evidence to back up the allegation.
Nijjar supported a separatist Sikh movement that sought to establish the Khalistan nation apart from India. His activities landed him on a terrorist list maintained by the Indian government, and New Delhi has long complained to Ottawa about the freedom given to Sikh nationalist expatriates living in Canada.
Canada has yet to provide any evidence to back the prime minister’s allegations, and Canadian U.N. Ambassador Bob Rae, accompanying Mr. Trudeau in New York at this week’s U.N. General Assembly gathering, indicated Thursday that it may not come very soon.
“This is very early days,” Mr. Rae told reporters at the United Nations, insisting that while facts will emerge, they must “come out in the course of the pursuit of justice. That’s what we call the rule of law in Canada.”
The fracture deepened on Thursday when India told Canada to reduce its diplomatic staff and stopped issuing visas to its citizens Thursday, The Associated Press reported. The suspension means that Canadians who don’t already have visas will not be able to travel to India until services resume. Canadians are among the top travelers to India, according to the AP.
Mr. Trudeau himself appeared determined to proceed with the investigation while trying to limit the diplomatic fallout.
“There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with,” he told reporters in New York on Thursday. “We are not looking to provoke or cause problems but we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians.”
• This report was based in part on wire service dispatches.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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