Nijjar murder, bid to kill Pannun part of single plot from Delhi: Canada’s ex-envoy

New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) The US indictment linking a former Indian agent to a foiled bid to assassinate Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun paints a "compelling and detailed portrait" of "a single plot" emanating from Delhi to kill multiple targets across North America, especially in Canada and the US, Canada's most recent envoy to India Cameron MacKay has alleged.

In an interview to CBC News, MacKay, who left India in August, said both Canada and the US are probing the matter, adding it was "a fiasco on the part of the Indian government" to think that it could carry out crimes in Canada and the US and get away with it.

New Delhi expelled Canadian Charge d'Affaires Stewart Wheeler and five other diplomats following Ottawa's fresh allegations of the Indian government's involvement in the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil last year. The Canadian diplomats left New Delhi on Friday evening.

India also recalled its High Commissioner and five more diplomats and they are also on their way back to India. The Canadian government had said the Indian diplomats were expelled from the country.

India has strongly rejected all the allegations made by Ottawa in connection to the case relating to the killing of Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India.

In his comments to the Canadian broadcaster, MacKay alleged that the killing of Nijjar and the failed attempt to murder Pannun in the US are linked.

"The indictment and the charges in the United States just yesterday, and then the indictment that was released on November 29 of 2023 paint a really compelling and a rather detailed portrait of a single plot emanating from Delhi to kill multiple targets across North America, in Canada and the United States," MacKay claimed.

"So you put those two indictments together with the evidence that was released and the comments made by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Monday, and you have a very clear picture, in fact, of what has been going on, for well over a year now," he alleged The US has charged Vikas Yadav, a former Indian government official, in the alleged foiled plot to kill Pannun on American soil last year.

India has already set up a high-level committee to probe the allegations.

The US Attorney's Office in New York said on Thursday it registered "murder-for-hire and money laundering charges" against Yadav for trying to assassinate Pannun.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau's allegations in September last year of "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar. New Delhi rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".

In his comments at the media briefing on Monday, Trudeau, referring to findings by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), claimed that it has "clear and compelling evidence that agents of the government of India have engaged in, and continue to engage in, activities that pose a significant threat to public safety." "This includes clandestine information gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts, including murder. This is unacceptable," he alleged.

The Canadian prime minister said his government's attempts to work with India did not yield any result.

India trashed Trudeau's charges. PTI