Canada claims Indian government assassinated Sikh leader

World

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said there are “credible allegations” that the Indian government was behind the assassination of a Sikh leader in Canada earlier this summer.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on 18 June.

The prime minister said he had raised his concerns “personally and directly” to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at last week’s G20 summit in India.

Mr Trudeau told parliament on Monday: “Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.”

He added: “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.

“In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

The Indian government is yet to respond to the claims.