- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Bob Rae said India’s UN envoy Ruchira Kamboj pulled him aside to say it’s important that the two countries keep working together as the governments try to work out the situation.
By: Shubham Ghosh
CANADIAN ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae has said that his Indian counterpart Ruchira Kamboj on Tuesday (26) pulled him aside at the world body to discuss the burning case of the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistan separatist leader, on Canadian soil in June.
The issue has caused a major diplomatic tussle between India and Canada after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau alleged India’s involvement in the murder, a claim which was slammed by India as “absurd” and “motivated”. The two countries also expelled each other’s senior diplomats and India suspended issuing visas to Canadian citizens.
Speaking to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News, Rae said Kamboj, India’s permanent representative at the UN, approached him following his address at the UN and thanked him.
“She pulled me aside to say it’s important that we keep working together as the governments try to work out the situation that has to be worked on,” he was quoted as saying.
“I took some comfort from that. I think that there is room for diplomacy and I think we’re going to see more room as we go forward.”
Nijjar was gunned down outside a gurdwara in Surrey in British Columbia by unidentified persons on June 18. The slain chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force outfit was designated as a terrorist by the Indian government.
“I think it is important for people to know that every effort has to be made to find an approach that will deal with the problem and deal with the issue that we’ve raised, because it is extremely important,” Rae was quoted as saying.
The same day, Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said his government has told the North American country that it is open to looking into any specific information it possesses on the death of Nijjar.
Speaking at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York where the diplomat went for the UN General Assembly session, he said that they had told Canada that it is not the Indian government’s policy.
“Two, we told the Canadians … that look, if you have something specific, if you have something relevant, you know, let us know — we are open to looking at it,” he added.
Last week, Trudeau said that Canada shared credible allegations with India weeks ago. Sources have told CBC that Ottawa gathered both human and signals intelligence in the months-long probe into the killing of Nijjar and it includes, among others, communications between Indian officials as well.
One US media report said that a 90-second video showed at least six men and two gateway cars were involved in the murder, suggesting that the operation was larger than previously told.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party which is in the ruling coalition of Trudeau’s Liberal Party, backed the premier saying on Tuesday “there is clear intelligence that Canada has that lays out the following case, that a Canadian citizen was killed on Canadian soil and a foreign government was involved”.
He called the intelligence “very credible”.
Last week, too, Singh had backed Trudeau’s claim and vowed not to rest till justice was served. He also held Indian prime minister Narendra Modi accountable.
The CBC News also said that there are signs that India may be softening its stance over allegations brought by the Trudeau government and predicted pressure from the US and other western governments behind it.
“There have been several instances of Indian officials saying they were open to discussions with Canada, possibly due to pressure from the U.S. and other western governments,” it said.
