Trudeau's murder claim risks upending US courtship of India

OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's shocking allegations that India orchestrated the murder of a separatist leader leaves President Joe Biden caught between one of the United States' closest allies and an increasingly important partner in countering China

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Indian leader Narendra Modi's government on Tuesday denied that it had anything to do with the slaying of a prominent Sikh leader in Canada. It called the allegation "absurd".

Both nations expelled one of the other's diplomats. Canada has yet to make any evidence public.

The White House reacted cautiously, with National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson saying the administration was "deeply concerned" and called on India to cooperate with the Canadian investigation.

A US official acknowledged that the allegations pose a problem for Mr Biden, who just left India with relations seemingly on track.

Now the episode threatens to upend the US' effort to court India as a counterweight to China, which was on display at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in New Delhi earlier in September.

The US and its allies had hailed Mr Modi's success in reaching a compromise on a joint communique, accepting softer language on Russia's war in Ukraine to align itself more broadly with India, in the battle with China for influence among major emerging economies.

"The Biden administration is in a no-win situation with this latest bombshell," said Mr Derek Grossman, a senior defence analyst at Rand Corporation.

"If it sides with Ottawa, then New Delhi will be up in arms and, once again, question the loyalty of Washington. If it sides with New Delhi, then the US is contradicting a Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) ally."