Blinken urged Indian cooperation in Canada's Sikh murder probe -spokesperson

By Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Indian counterpart on Thursday about the killing of a Sikh separatist advocate in Canada and urged India to cooperate fully with the Canadian investigation into the killing, a State Department spokesperson said.

India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar confirmed on Friday he had spoken to Blinken and the U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan about Canadian allegations on New Delhi's possible involvement in the June killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.

"They shared U.S. views and assessments on this whole situation and I explained to them at some length ... a summary of the concerns which I had," Jaishankar said at an event hosted by the Hudson Institute in Washington.

Ties between Indian and Canada have become seriously strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told parliament earlier this month that Canada suspected Indian government agents were linked to the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The incident has put the United States in an awkward spot diplomatically, given Canada is a neighbor and a formal ally and Washington has been intensely focused on developing relations with India as a key partner in its effort to push back against expanding Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

An official State Department readout of the meeting between Blinken and Jaishankar issued on Thursday made no mention of the Nijjar issue, but an unnamed U.S. official subsequently confirmed late on Thursday that it was raised in the meeting and that Blinken had urged India to cooperate in the investigation.

On Friday, a State Department spokesperson said that during their meeting, the two "discussed a full range of issues impacting the important, strategic, and consequential relationship between the United States and India" and the key issues were noted in the official readout.

"Secretary Blinken also took the opportunity to urge India to cooperate fully with the ongoing Canadian investigation," the spokesperson added.

Speaking in Quebec on Thursday, Trudeau said he was certain that Blinken would broach the issue with Jaishankar.

Nijjar was a Canadian citizen but India had declared him a "terrorist." He supported the cause of Khalistan, or an independent homeland for Sikhs to be carved out of India.

Traditional Canadian allies, including the United States, have appeared to take a cautious approach to the matter and analysts have said this is partly because Washington and other major players see India as an important counterweight to China.

Jaishankar said on Tuesday that New Delhi had told Canada it was open to looking into any "specific" or "relevant" information it provides on the killing.

Trudeau, who is yet to publicly share any evidence, said last week he shared the "credible allegations" with India "many weeks ago."

Blinken and Sullivan said last week that Washington was "deeply concerned" about the allegations raised by Trudeau.

The U.S. ambassador to Canada told Canadian television that some information on the case had been gathered by the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which groups the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Britain.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Daniel Wallis)