US very vigilant on 'transnational repression', Blinken says on Canada's allegation against India

Blinken was reacting to Canada’s allegation about India’s role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was one of India’s most-wanted fugitive extremists but lived freely in Canada till his murder on June 18.

The United States takes instances of “transnational repression” very seriously, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in New York when he was asked about Canada’s allegations of India’s role in the killing of Khalistani Sikh terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the North American country.

“More broadly – and you’ve heard me speak to this – we are extremely vigilant about any instances of alleged transnational repression, something we take very, very seriously,” Blinken said on Friday, reacting to Canada’s allegation about India’s role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was one of India’s most-wanted fugitive extremists but lived freely in Canada till his murder on June 18.

Nijjar was an accused in a number of cases involving murder, terrorist activities and sedition in India. The Interpol had in 2016 issued a Red Corner Notice against him on India’s request for his alleged role in killing six people in a blast at a cinema in Ludhiana in Punjab in 2007. The US too had put him on the ‘No-Fly’ list in 2019. Canada had granted him citizenship in 2015 and he was the president of a gurdwara at Surrey in the British Columbia province of Canada.

“We are deeply concerned about the allegations that Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau has raised. We have been consulting throughout very closely with our Canadian colleagues – and not just consulting, coordinating with them – on this issue,” the US Secretary of State told journalists.

He was reacting to Canada’s claims that it decided to go public with the allegation about India’s role as a part of a broader effort to protect and promote international rules-based order. He was asked if the US vision of India as a pillar of democratic values that could help counterbalance China in Asia would be undermined if the allegations turned out to be true.

Blinken and India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar were joined by their Japanese and Australian counterparts Yoko Kamikawa and Penny Wong at a meeting of the Quad on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday.

His comment came a day after Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the US had “deep concerns” about Canada’s allegation against India and would like to see the investigation into the allegation being carried forward. He dismissed the speculation that if the findings of the probe corroborated Ottawa’s claim about New Delhi’s role in the murder of Nijjar, the US reactions would not be influenced by “any special exemption” for India, notwithstanding the attempts by Washington DC to deepen strategic convergence with the South Asian nation.

Since Trudeau claimed that his government’s security agencies were actively pursuing the ‘credible allegations’ about ‘a potential link’ between India’s agents and the killing of a citizen of Canada, the Biden Administration has been urging New Delhi to cooperate with Ottawa to carry forward the probe.

“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 in New York.