Offered ‘off ramps’ to diplomatic crisis, India doubled down, Trudeau testifies

Rather than cooperating with the Canada’s investigations, India opted to attack, Trudeau says.

India rejected repeated “off ramps” to avoiding a diplomatic crisis after intelligence linked it to the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder in B.C., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified on Wednesday.

Rather than cooperating with the Canada’s investigations into the role of its intelligence services in the assassination, India instead pushed back, Trudeau told the foreign interference inquiry.

“Their response was to double down and attack Canada rather than take responsibility or say, ‘How can we fix this? Yes, this was a violation of the rule of law,’” Trudeau said.

Responding to Trudeau’s testimony, the Indian government said Canada had “presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats.”

“The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone.”

But appearing at the Hogue Commission two days after the RCMP said India was targeting its opponents in Canada with violence, Trudeau detailed his attempts to resolve the dispute with New Delhi.

He said that while the June 18, 2023, murder of the Surrey, B.C. Sikh temple leader was initially considered a gang or crime killing, indications of India’s involvement emerged over the summer.

“In late July, early August, I was briefed on the fact that there was intelligence from Canada and possibly Five Eyes allies that made it fairly clear, credibly clear, that India was involved in this killing,” he said.