S Jaishankar, the external minister, amid the ongoing diplomatic row over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Khalistani extremist, has raised concerns over “organized crime linked to secessionist groups, violence, and extremism” in Canada. Jaishankar also asserted that these issues have been allowed to persist due to political considerations in Canada.
“Over the past few years, Canada has witnessed a significant rise in organized crime associated with secessionist movements, along with instances of violence and extremism. These issues are intricately intertwined. As a matter of fact, we have been engaged in discussions concerning specific incidents and information related to these concerns,” said the foreign minister during a discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
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Jaishankar said, “I am not part of The Five Eyes, I am certainly not part of the FBI. So I think you are asking the wrong person,” when asked about reports suggesting the Five Eyes group’s role in intelligence related to the killing of Nijjar and the FBI’s warning to US Sikh leaders of “credible threats”.
The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US, and the UK.
Regarding prime minister Trudeau’s allegations, Jaishankar assured the Indian side would take action if the Canadian side provided specific information concerning Khalistani leader Hardeep Nijjar’s killing.
Earlier, David Cohen, the US ambassador to Canada, said that it was “shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners” that led the Trudeau administration to make the claim of a potential link between “agents” of the Indian government and the killing of separatist Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
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