White House ‘firmly’ rejects any wedge between U.S., Canada over India
Global News
The U.S. has not openly criticized India in the wake of the allegations as the Biden administration seeks deeper economic and diplomatic ties with India.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser says the White House “firmly” rejects suggestions that Canada’s allegation of potential India’s involvement in the murder of a Sikh leader is driving a wedge between the two allies.
The U.S. has not openly criticized India in the wake of the allegations, which have yet to be proven, as the Biden administration seeks deeper economic and diplomatic ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
But Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the issue has not impacted the U.S.-Canada relationship.
“I have seen in the press some efforts to try and drive a wedge between Canada and the U.S. on this issue, and I firmly reject the idea that there is a wedge between the U.S. and Canada,” he said.
“We have deep concerns about the allegations and would like to see the investigation carried forward and perpetrators held to account. That is what the United States has stood for from the moment this emerged in public, and we will stand for that until this plays out.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Canada’s Five Eyes allies, including the U.S., rebuffed private entreaties to publicly condemn the murder and India’s alleged involvement before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the allegation public in the House of Commons on Monday.
Senior Canadian and American government officials, speaking to Global News on the condition of anonymity, pushed back strongly against the report.
Sullivan would not comment on whether U.S. intelligence supports what Trudeau called “credible intelligence” suggesting agents of India’s government may be behind the June murder outside Vancouver of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and supporter of the Khalistan movement that is pushing for the creation of a separate Sikh state.
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