Canada’s defence minister Bill Blair on Sunday termed the relationship with India as “important” and said that his country will continue to pursue partnerships like the Indo-Pacific strategy.
Tensions heightened between the two countries following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.
India has rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
Canada will continue to pursue those partnerships while the investigation into allegations continues, calling the relationship with India “important”, said Blair in an interview aired on Sunday on The West Block by Global News.
“We understand that this can be, and has proven to be, a challenging issue with respect to our relationship with India,” he was quoted as saying by Global News. “But at the same time, we have a responsibility to defend the law, defend our citizens, and at the same time make sure that we conduct a thorough investigation and get to the truth.”
New Delhi expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
In 2020, India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist.
Blair also said that if the allegations are proven true then “there is a very significant concern that Canada will have with respect to the violation of our sovereignty in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”