Canada vows to hold Indian officials accountable for Nijjar murder

Appearing before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions, on Thursday, in Ottawa, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada wanted the officials potentially behind the killing held accountable.

“That’s the goal. But we have to shed light of what happened exactly. That’s why the RCMP is doing that work,” she said. She was referring to the investigation being undertaken by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) into the killing, which took place on June 18, 2023 in Surrey, British Columbia.

“We are asking for the collaboration of the Indian government because we want to make those who were involved in this murder accountable. We want to prevent any other murders occurring because the threat is there,” she added.

She said Canada has maintained diplomatic relations with India but “exerted a lot of pressure”, in the context of the murder.

Describing the murder as “unacceptable”, she also said “India has complaints, concerns there is a pro-Khalistan movement in Canada.”

She did not recollect if there were briefings on foreign interference by countries including India but just that there were problems with them. “I know our relationship with India is complex and problematic,” she added.

Diplomacy between India and Canada has continued in private since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons on September 18 last year that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents the Nijjar’s killing. India described those allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”, and ties were nearly wrecked in the aftermath.

This year, however, senior Canadian officials have visited India that were not made public, while Joly has spoken with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. They also met in person on the margins of the Munich Security Conference in Germany this February.

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Trudeau on the margins of G7 leaders’ summit in Italy.