Thu Nov 21 03:46:02 UTC 2024: ## India Denounces Canadian Report Linking Modi to Sikh Separatist’s Killing as “Smear Campaign”
**New Delhi, India** – India has vehemently rejected a Canadian report alleging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s knowledge of a plot to assassinate Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, calling it a “smear campaign” designed to further damage already strained bilateral relations.
The report, published in the *Globe and Mail*, cited unnamed Canadian officials claiming that Mr. Modi, along with India’s national security advisor and external affairs minister, were aware of the plot to kill Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and alleged mastermind of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force. Nijjar was shot dead in Vancouver last June.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the allegations as “ludicrous” and said such statements only serve to worsen the already tense relationship between the two countries.
The escalating diplomatic crisis began after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of involvement in Nijjar’s killing, prompting the expulsion of Indian diplomats from Canada and a reciprocal expulsion of Canadian diplomats from India. Mr. Trudeau stated that supporting criminal activity on Canadian soil, including murder and extortion, is “absolutely unacceptable.”
India has maintained that Nijjar was a wanted terrorist responsible for multiple crimes, including the murder of a Hindu priest in Punjab, and that a reward was offered for information leading to his arrest. The ongoing dispute highlights the deep divisions between the two nations over the issue of Sikh separatism and allegations of Indian involvement in the assassination on Canadian soil.
First Piper 