U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the growing tension between Canada and India on Friday, saying the U.S. is “deeply concerned” about the allegations made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India was involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen earlier this year.
Blinken, who spoke publicly at a news conference in New York City, is the highest-ranking U.S. official to discuss the matter, which has been escalating since Monday, when Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the June 18 killing of Sikh activist and leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar was gunned down in the parking lot of a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver in British Columbia. He was a vocal Sikh activist and proponent of the Khalistan movement, which aims to create an independent Sikh homeland in the Punjab state of India. The separatist movement began after the Indo-Pakistan partition of 1947, and is considered a controversial issue in India.
They don’t know that killing an activist only raises the awareness? Until now i never heard about khalistan
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Blinken, who spoke publicly at a news conference in New York City, is the highest-ranking U.S. official to discuss the matter, which has been escalating since Monday, when Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the June 18 killing of Sikh activist and leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar was gunned down in the parking lot of a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver in British Columbia.
India on Thursday suspended visas for Canadian citizens and issued a travel advisory for Canada, citing security threats against its diplomats there.
He added that while the U.S. is focused on this specific case, it also sees Nijjar’s shooting death as an opportunity to discourage other countries from engaging in acts that violate international rules-based order.
Blinken was asked about how this growing tension might impact relations between the U.S. and India, which has become an important strategic and economic partner in Asia for the U.S.
In June, both countries signed the U.S.-India Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership, and released a statement saying the agreement “affirmed a vision of the United States and India as among the closest partners in the world.”
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