Co-operation ‘right next step,’ British say after Canada’s latest India allegations

The British government says India should co-operate with Canada’s investigation into accusations that its government has been involved in an escalating number of violent crimes in Canada.

Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats on Monday after the RCMP said it had credible evidence that Indian agents played a role in extortion, coercion and murder of Canadian citizens on Canadian soil. The six diplomats declined to waive diplomatic immunity to answer RCMP questions related to the investigation.

In London, the U.K. foreign ministry says it’s in contact with Ottawa about Monday’s “serious developments” and it argues that India’s co-operation with Canada’s legal process “is the right next step.”

Members of Parliament are likely to look into how Ottawa can best respond to the bombshell allegations, with the four major political parties requesting an emergency probe.

A Tuesday letter calls for the House public-safety committee to have at least one meeting to discuss “steps that could be taken by the government to protect Canadians.”

The MPs cite a parliamentary rule that would require a meeting to be held within five days of the clerk receiving the letter, and the committee must issue a notice two days before the meeting.

The Commons is not sitting this week, but MPs can attend committee meetings virtually, and call for witnesses.

A U.S. State Department spokesman told a news conference Tuesday that the U.S. had long been asking India to co-operate with Canadian authorities, but he stopped short of commenting on the substance of the new claims.

New Zealand has only said that Canada’s allegations are concerning and that it will await the judicial process, in a statement that did not mention India.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in September 2023 that Canadian intelligence services were investigating credible information about a potential link between India’s government and the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist, in Surrey, B.C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.