Nothing to link PM, EAM, NSA to Nijjar plot: Canada

Canada's National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) has said that Ottawa is not aware of any link between India's Prime Minister and criminal activity in the country, denying a story in Canadian media, and also, for the first time in months, dialling down the intensity of accusations aimed at India and arising from the killing of a Canada-based pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023.

- Anirudh Bhattacharyya

In a statement issued on Thursday evening, NSIA Nathalie G Drouin said, "The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of evidence, linking Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi, [External Affairs] Minister [S] Jaishankar, or NSA [Ajit] Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada."

She added: "Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and inaccurate."

Interestingly, on October 29, in a hearing of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa, Drouin admitted that she was one of the Canadian officials who leaked information to The Washington Post on the matter. The Post reported, citing unnamed officials a week before her admission, that Ottawa believed that India's home minister Amit Shah and an official of its Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) were aware of the plot to kill Nijjar.