US wants to stay out of Canada-India diplomatic tensions

Charles Myers, founder of political strategy firm Signum Global Advisors, said the Biden administration would likely seek to stay as far away from the diplomatic row between Canada and India as possible, in order to not disrupt the progress made in relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

Mỹ muốn đứng ngoài căng thẳng ngoại giao Canada-Ấn Độ

Relations between Canada and India have been strained following the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was shot on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver. (Source: Reuters)

“We’re doing everything we can to work with India to try to outcompete China competitively, and I don’t think the U.S. is going to get too involved” in the dispute, said Mr. Myers, a former Evercore vice president and longtime Democratic donor who has donated to Mr. Biden’s campaign.

Relations between Canada and India have been strained following the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was shot on June 18 in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was “credible” evidence implicating the Indian government in the killing of Nijjar, who advocated an independent Sikh nation in northwestern India.

“Any involvement by a foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau said.

The Indian government, which denies any involvement in the incident, has called Nijjar a terrorist and criticized the Trudeau government for not doing more to stop “anti-India activities” among Canada’s Indian community.

The US Secretary of State on September 22 called on India to cooperate with Canada in investigating the case. However, the US and other allies have stopped short of taking any specific retaliatory measures, such as expelling Indian diplomats.

“For (Canadian) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make these allegations public, he must have very good information and evidence, given the seriousness of the allegations,” noted Singnum’s founder. “If true, this is an example of state-sponsored terrorism on Canadian soil. Yet the US has tried to distance itself from this.”

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