BENGALURU
\nNearly five months after murder of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia, India\u2019s High Com\u00admissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, has alleged that Canada\u2019s police probe into the assassination has been damaged by a high-level Canadian official.
\nCanada has alleged Indian involvement in the murder in a Vancouver suburb of Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom India called a \u201cterrorist.\u201d India denies the allegation.
\n\u201cI would go a step further and say now the investigation has already been tainted,\u201d Verma told The Globe and Mail in an interview.
\n\u201cA direction has come from someone at a high level to say India or Indian agents are behind it.\u201d However, Verma did not name the high-level official.
\nOn Sept 18, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: \u201cCanadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India\u201d and Nijjar\u2019s death.
\nThe case has sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries. Canada withdrew 41 diplomats from India after New Delhi in September asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence following Canada\u2019s allegations over Nijjar\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n
Verma said that India has not been shown concrete evidence by Canada or Canada\u2019s allies that Indian agents were involved in Nijjar\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n
In September, Canada paused talks on a proposed trade treaty with India, just three months after the two nations said they aimed to seal an initial agreement this year.<\/p>\n
However, the Indian diplomat said that despite the strained relations between the two countries, India would like to expand business ties and return to the negotiating table on a trade deal.<\/p>\n
Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Indian government\u2019s crackdown on Canadian diplomats was making normal life difficult for millions of people in both countries.<\/p>\n
Around two million Canadians, around 5pc of the overall population, have Indian heritage.<\/p>\n
India is by far Canada\u2019s largest source of global students, making up for roughly 40pc of study permit holders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BENGALURU Nearly five months after murder of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia, India\u2019s High Com\u00admissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, has alleged that Canada\u2019s police probe into the assassination has been damaged by a high-level Canadian official. Canada has alleged Indian involvement in the murder in a Vancouver suburb of Canadian citizen and Sikh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-366462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n