News Brief
US Shares 'Legally Presentable' Intelligence, Canada Provides Mere 'Allegations' In Assassination Plots, Says Indian High Commissioner Verma
Nayan Dwivedi
Nov 28, 2023, 12:13 PM | Updated 12:13 PM IST
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In a recent revelation, Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, has shed light on the disparities between the information shared by the United States and Canada with regard to alleged assassination plots against Khalistan separatists.
Verma said that while Washington provided "legally presentable" inputs to Delhi on the plot involving Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Ottawa shared only "allegations" related to the killing of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, reported Indian Express.
Verma also emphasised that the Indian connections mentioned by the US were not associated with the government of India but with individuals in the country.
This marks the first instance where a senior Indian official has explicitly differentiated between the information shared by the two North American nations.
The development comes in the wake of a report by the Financial Times, revealing that the US thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate Pannun on American soil.
In response, Delhi expressed seriousness about the inputs, stating that relevant departments were already examining them.
The reaction to the US information differed significantly from India's response to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "credible allegations" regarding a potential link between Indian government agents and Nijjar's killing.
Verma explained that the investigation in the US case was at a more advanced stage, implying that more comprehensive information would be shared with India.
In contrast, he noted that the conversations with Canadian officials on Trudeau's allegations lacked specificity and relevance for India to initiate investigations.
The Canadian government had raised concerns about a potential link between the Indian government and Nijjar's killing, leading to two trips by Canada's National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas to India.
However, Verma staunchly denied any involvement of the Indian government in Nijjar's death, labeling the allegations as "motivated and absurd".
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Nayan Dwivedi is Staff Writer at Swarajya.
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