Canada and India “committed to work together”, says Trudeau after meeting Modi

India and Canada agreed to “work together” to deal with some “very important issues”, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on June 15. Mr. Trudeau’s statement comes after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G-7 Outreach Summit in Italy.

On Monday, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is expected to arrive in Delhi to discuss India-U.S. cooperation — in strategic, technological, and intelligence areas — with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. The NSAs will meet for the first time since the U.S. released details of a case allegedly involving Indian security officials in a plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, another Khalistani separatist wanted in India.

‘Important issues’

The Modi-Trudeau meeting in Italy during the G-7 outreach summit came just a few days before the one-year mark since Mr. Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurudwara in Canada’s Surrey on June 18, which sent bilateral ties into a downward spiral. Neither Mr. Trudeau nor Mr. Modi referred directly to the investigation into the killing and the allegations by Canada, which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has called “absurd” and “motivated”.

“I’m not going to get into the details of this important, sensitive issue that we need to follow up, but this was a commitment to work together, in the coming times, to deal with some very important issues,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters at a press conference in Italy’s Fasano on Saturday. The MEA did not issue any statement on the exchange, that took place just after the group photo for the G-7 outreach leaders, and was captured in a single photo released on PM Modi’s X account that simply said that he had “met” the Canadian Prime Minister.

India dismisses Canadian charges

Both the U.S. trial on the alleged Pannun plot and the Canadian trial on Nijjar’s death are expected to begin in the next few months. While the MEA announced a “high-level” enquiry into the U.S. allegations more than six months ago, it has consistently refused to accept the Canadian charges.

“To date, we have never received anything which is specific and worthy of being pursued by our investigative agencies, and I’m not aware anything has changed in the last few days, in that regard,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said at an interaction in May this year, reacting to news that Canada had announced a fourth arrest of an Indian for Nijjar’s killing.

He also drew a negative comparison between the U.S. and “another country in the same continent, [a] little bit to the north” (referring to Canada), on the issue of dealing with Khalistani groups. According to officials, India was informed of the arrests, but said that all four Indians arrested have not so far requested consular access.

‘Consistent information provided’

In an email exchange, Canada’s Foreign Ministry, called Global Affairs Canada, contested Mr. Jaishankar’s contentions. “Since Canada became aware of the credible allegations, we have consistently provided all the information we can to India on the Nijjar case, through multiple channels,” said spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod, in response to a number of questions from The Hindu that Global Affairs Canada did not answer.

Unlike the U.S. justice system, the Canadian system does not reveal evidence in the case prior to the trial in “public indictments”. Even so, several Canadian media reports indicate a consistent drip of information on leads that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Department of Justice (DoJ) are following.

Sources also told The Hindu that, over the past few months, there have been active exchanges between the RCMP, the DoJ, and the India-Canada Joint Working Group on Counter terrorism. They added that David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS), had visited India twice this year to discuss the cases. Both sides exchanged communications on at least 24 of the 26 cases where India has sought the extradition of those in Canada wanted for criminal or terrorism charges in India, they said.