US 'deeply concerned' about allegations raised by Canadian PM Trudeau against India: Antony Blinken

New York, September 23

The US is “deeply concerned” about the allegations raised by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau against India on the killing of a Khalistani separatist in Canada, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said and Washington is “closely coordinating” with Ottawa on the issue and wants to see “accountability” in the case.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, Blinken said the US had engaged directly with the Indian government on the issue and the most productive thing would be the completion of this investigation.

“Let me say a few things about this. First, we are deeply concerned about the allegations that Prime Minister Trudeau has raised,” the top US diplomat said in response to a question on Trudeau’s allegations against India.

Trudeau said in the Canadian Parliament earlier this week that “Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing” of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

“We have been consulting throughout very closely with our Canadian colleagues – and not just consulting, coordinating with them – on this issue. And from our perspective, it is critical that the Canadian investigation proceed, and it would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. We want to see accountability, and it’s important that the investigation run its course and lead to that result,” Blinken said.