Trudeau admits Canada had 'intel, not hard proof' against India in Nijjar killing

Justin Trudeau, who testified before the country's foreign interference inquiry, said Canada only provided intelligence and no proof before publicly accusing India of killing Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

In Short

• Trudeau says Canada only shared intelligence, not proof, before accusing India
• Claims there is credible evidence of Indian agents' involvement in Nijjar killing
• Ties strained after Indian diplomats called 'persons of interest' in Nijjar murder

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday admitted that his government only provided "intelligence and no proof" to India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

Trudeau, who testified before the country's foreign interference inquiry, claimed that the Canadian agencies tried to work behind the scenes with India before he went public with the allegations in the Nijjar killing.

He said that when Canadian agencies asked India to look into the allegations, New Delhi sought proof. "At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof," Trudeau admitted.

The Indian government has repeatedly charged Canada for making baseless accusations without providing any evidence.

The Canadian Prime Minister spoke about his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023 before Canada went public with its allegations against India.

"I sat down and shared (with PM Modi) that we knew that they were involved (in Nijjar killing) and expressed a real concern around it. He responded with the usual response from him, which is that we have people who are outspoken against the Indian government living in Canada that he would like to see arrested," he said.

Trudeau alleged that India refused to cooperate with the probe and doubled down on attacks against his government, which made it clear that "India had violated Canada's sovereignty".

Trudeau appeared before the committee after Ottawa's latest charge that Indian diplomats were involved in collecting information and using criminal gangs for targeting members of pro-Khalistan movement in Canada. He reiterated his claim before the committee that there was "credible evidence" that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Nijjar.

Trudeau also named gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was earlier mentioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for being involved in the murder of Nijjar. Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians and passing it to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

After Canada made charges against the Indian diplomats on Monday morning, the Ministry of External Affairs released a scathing statement, saying that Canada did not share a "shred of evidence of India's involvement in Nijjar's killing" despite repeated requests and accused Trudeau of doing vote bank politics and not doing enough to tackle separatist elements on Canadian soil.

The ongoing diplomatic row escalated with New Delhi recalling its top envoy to Ottawa and expelling six Canadian diplomats from the country on late Monday evening.