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