New Delhi: A key ally of Canada has questioned the country over the absence of evidence of India’s alleged involvement in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Winston Peters, New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister told the Indian Express that Canada has not shared any evidence to establish India’s involvement.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar (45), a designated terrorist and chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada’s British Columbia in June last year.
A diplomatic row between India and Canada erupted after Canadian PM Justine Trudeau, days after participating the G20 summit in Delhi, accused India of involvement in the murder.
Trudeau told parliament that security agencies were ‘actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar’.
India quickly hit back calling the allegations ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’, and subsequently relations between both countries nose-dived following the withdrawal of diplomats.
When asked if Canada shared information on Nijjar case, Winston Peters, who is visiting India, said it was handled by the previous New Zealand government.
The 78-year-old said that: ‘As a trained lawyer, I look okay, so where's the case? Where's the evidence? Where's the finding right here, right now? Well, there isn't one.’