U.Okay. spies handed over intel to Canada on Nijjar killing: report

It was with the assistance of British spy name intercepts that the Canadian authorities drew alleged hyperlinks between India and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, a brand new documentary launched this week has claimed.

‘Inside the Deaths that Rocked India’s Relations with the West’ by Bloomberg Originals stories {that a} British intelligence company – believed to be the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), sometimes called the nation’s listening put up – intercepted calls that seemed to be discussing three targets.

Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh designated a terrorist by India in 2020 for Khalistani extremism, was allegedly among the many names on the intelligence handed on to the Canadian authorities underneath the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence sharing settlement between the UK., U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In late July 2023, there was a “breakthrough” within the Nijjar homicide investigation case when the UK. obtained “related info”, the video documentary claims.

The British intelligence would solely be shared underneath strict circumstances: hand-delivered to Ottawa and stored off digital techniques and solely a handful of Canadian officers, pre-approved by London, may see it, it’s claimed.

“The file was a abstract of conversations intercepted by a British intelligence company between people who analysts consider have been engaged on behalf of the Indian authorities,” the documentary claims.

“They had mentioned three potential targets: Nijjar, (Avtar Singh) Khanda and (Gurpatwant Singh) Pannun. Later, there was an alternate about how Nijjar had been efficiently eradicated,” it alleges.

Khanda, a British Sikh pro-Khalistani activist, died in June 2023 at a hospital within the metropolis of Birmingham within the West Midlands area of England. He was terminally in poor health with blood most cancers and regardless of allegations from some teams within the UK., the British authorities dominated there have been “no suspicious circumstances” surrounding the loss of life.

In the wake of the documentary, Sikh Federation UK stated it has written to safety minister Dan Jarvis to demand why the British authorities has intelligence from July 2023 that it has not shared or referred to “when particularly requested by MPs representing the Sikh neighborhood.” “We are significantly involved about British intelligence held that’s related to the mysterious loss of life of Avtar Singh Khanda,” the letter reads.

Meanwhile, U.S.-based Pannun, designated a terrorist by India for his Khalistani extremism, is interviewed within the Bloomberg documentary surrounded by armed bodyguards and claims to be in concern for his life.

India has strongly rejected Canadian allegations as “absurd and motivated” and a “deliberate technique of smearing India for political positive factors.” The difficulty triggered an enormous diplomatic row when the then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a press release within the Canadian Parliament in 2023 that its safety forces have been “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian authorities brokers to the homicide of Nijjar in British Columbia.

In October 2024, India recalled its excessive commissioner and 5 different diplomats after Ottawa tried to hyperlink them to the Nijjar case.

India additionally expelled an equal variety of Canadian diplomats.

However, Liberal Party chief Carney’s victory within the parliamentary election in April this yr helped start the method of resetting relations.

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks together with his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the margins of the G7 summit at Kananaskis in Canada.

In August, India and Canada appointed envoys to one another’s capitals, signalling their efforts to restore ties.