US provided Canada with intel on Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing in June, says report

US spy agencies reportedly provided information to Canada after Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in June this year, a report said on Sunday. But according to Western allied officials, Canada reportedly developed the most definitive intelligence that led it to accuse India of orchestrating the plot, the New York Times reported.

The report said that US intelligence agencies offered their Canadian counterparts context that helped Canada conclude that India had been involved. Yet what appears to be the “smoking gun”, intercepted communications of Indian diplomats in Canada indicating involvement in the plot, was gathered by Canadian officials, the allied officials said as quoted in the report.

The report further said that the US did not learn about the plot, or evidence pointing to India’s involvement in it, until after operatives had killed  Nijjar, allied officials said.

The NYT report came at a time when a top US diplomat in Canada confirmed there was "shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners", which prompted Canadian PM Justin Trudeau to make the stunning claim that there was a "potential link" between the Indian government agents and Nijjar's killing.

The report said that Nijjar was continuously warned that he was in danger. Canadian officials had told Nijjar that his life was at risk. Several friends and associates of Nijjar reportedly told him to avoid the temple and stay alert.

After his death, US officials told their Canadian counterparts that Washington had not had any advance information about the plot. They had said that if they had any prior information, they would have immediately told Ottawa under the intelligence agencies’ “duty to warn” doctrine.

The US has called on India to cooperate with the Canadian government in its investigations into the killing of Nijjar. Nijjar was shot dead by two unidentified men in Surrey in Canada's British Columbia province on June 18 this year. Nijjar was one of India's most-wanted terrorists and carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. 

The report further said US officials are reluctant to discuss the Nijjar killing because although Washington wants to assist Canada, a close ally, it "does not want to alienate India", a partner with which it is hoping to expand ties as a counterbalance to China’s rising influence in Asia.

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said India should work with Canada in its probe into the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and added, "We want to see accountability".

Trudeau on Friday said that Canada shared with India "many weeks ago" evidence on the killing of Nijjar and wanted New Delhi to work constructively with Ottawa to establish the facts in the "very serious matter".

On its part, India has maintained that New Delhi did not receive any specific information from Ottawa in the case.

"No specific information has been shared by Canada on this case, either then or before or after. We have, you know, as we have said, or I think we have made very clear, we are willing to look at any specific information," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

Also read: India-Canada row: Chinese media says West’s ‘collective silence’ exposes their ‘double standards’ 

Also read: India-Canada row: ‘Shared intelligence among Five Eyes’ informed Trudeau’s allegations, says US diplomat