Antony Blinken calls on India to work with Canada on investigation into Sikh activist’s homicide

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday sought to ease tensions between India and Canada throughout a go to to New Delhi, urging the Indian authorities to cooperate with an ongoing investigation into the homicide of a Sikh activist in Canada.

The two nations, that are each key companions of Washington, have been in a diplomatic row because the June homicide of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the Indian authorities of assassinating Nijjar, an allegation New Delhi claims is “absurd.”

Mr. Blinken, who’s visiting India with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, advised reporters Friday that he had mentioned the state of affairs together with his Indian counterparts and requested that they take a step towards easing tensions with Canada.

“As a friend of both, we think it’s very important that India work with Canada on its investigation, and that they find a way to resolve this difference in a cooperative way,” the secretary of state mentioned.

The India–Canada dispute has created complications for the Biden administration, which for months has been making an attempt to ease tensions between U.S. ally Canada and India, a South Asian powerhouse important to Washington’s Indo-Pacific technique to counter China’s rising affect within the area.

U.S. officers have mentioned the first focus of Friday’s India go to by Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin is to point out confidence in India as a regional counterweight to China and search New Delhi’s assist for Washington’s backing of Israel in its ongoing struggle with Hamas.

They met with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar for annual “two-plus-two” talks. Indian officers mentioned forward of the talks that the main target could be on protection and safety cooperation between India and the U.S.

Canada‘s allegation that India orchestrated the assassination of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil made world headlines in June and sparked unease over the prospect that the federal government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could also be monitoring and concentrating on dissidents abroad.

Many analysts regard the Modi authorities to have a Hindu nationalist bent, and to have pushed an oppressive posture towards non secular minorities in India.

• This story is predicated partly on wire service studies.