New Delhi Canada has yet to provide evidence to support claims by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and law enforcement officials about alleged links between Indian officials and the killing of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and other criminal activity, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. .

The diplomatic divide over Nijjar’s killing, sparked by Trudeau’s accusation more than a year ago of links between Indian government agents and the killing, deepened on Monday when New Delhi rejected the decision of Ottawa to designate six officials, including the high commissioner. Sanjay Verma as “persons of interest” in the investigation and expelled six Canadian diplomats. India also removed the six officials, including Verma.

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“The central assertion of all Canadian officials is that credible evidence has been presented to India. That’s simply not true,” said one of the people cited above on condition of anonymity.

Trudeau’s news conference Monday was “the same old Trudeau saying the same old things for the same old reasons,” the person said. The Indian side has previously said Trudeau’s actions were motivated by vote-bank politics, including efforts to gain support from Canada’s Indian and Sikh communities.

The sources noted that Canadian charge d’affaires Stewart Wheeler reiterated Ottawa’s position in a speech to the media after being summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Monday evening for protesting. Wheeler was among six diplomats subsequently expelled by India.

“Canada’s assertion was repeated by its charge d’affaires to the press. From the beginning, the Canadian approach has been to make vague accusations and put the burden of denial on India,” said the person cited above.

Wheeler told reporters outside the Foreign Ministry that the Canadian government “has done what the Indian government has been asking for a long time” and that it was time for India “to look into these allegations.” Referring to Nijjar’s murder, he added: “Canada has provided credible and irrefutable evidence of links between Indian government agents and the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. »

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He added: “It is in the interest of our countries and their people to get to the bottom of this matter. Canada is ready to cooperate with India.

Nijjar had already been designated a terrorist by India when he was shot dead by unidentified men outside a gurdwara in the city of Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023. India had rejected Trudeau’s allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder as “absurd”, and outside sources The Foreign Ministry has called Canada’s latest move to name six officials as “persons of interest” in the same investigation “absurd”.

Although there have been multiple contacts between Indian and Canadian security officials and diplomats since the start of the year to discuss both Nijjar’s assassination and the threat posed by Khalistian-based elements in Canada for diplomatic facilities and Indian diplomats, New Delhi has maintained that Ottawa has not shared any evidence to support its claims of an Indian link to the killing.

“It is absurd that after engaging in intensive dialogue with the (Indian) high commissioner over the past year, the Canadian government is now choosing to target him,” a second person said.

The people referred to a news conference held Monday in Ottawa by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme and Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin and said no details were provided on claims about people’s ties to India.

“It was also about empowering people. But it was never clarified who and for what,” the second person said.

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Duheme said at the news conference that the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies have collected evidence that allegedly links Indian government agents to criminal and violent activity in Canada, including homicides, acts of coercion and extortion.

RCMP officials alleged that Indian authorities collected information about the Indian community in Canada that was passed to organized crime groups, including the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, who then used the information to carry out criminal activities.

Gauvin said the RCMP investigation uncovered “a number of criminal organizations involved in various criminal activities…the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which is a gang involved in extortion and narcotics from the ‘India “. None of the RCMP officers presented any evidence to support their statements.