External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday that the recent concerns raised by the US and Canada against India regarding the alleged links between India and the plot to murder Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun along with the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar “are not necessarily the same”.

While attending an event in Bengaluru, EAM Jaishankar said, “The point was when Americans brought up some issues, and the two issues are not necessarily the same. When they brought up that issue, the Americans told us some specific things.”

In addition, Jaishankar also said that India is a responsible and prudent country and is always open to examine inputs given by any other country, not just Canada.

“I think everybody knows that India is a country where we are very responsible; we are very prudent about what we do. The whole issue for us has been that we have always maintained that any country, not just Canada, has a concern and gives us some input or some basis for that concern, we are always open to look at it. This is what countries do,” said Jaishankar.

The External Affairs Minister said that such “challenges” can come up from time to time when it comes to international relations. “So we very sincerely told the Canadians, saying that it’s up to you, I mean your choice, whether you would like us to pursue it, further look into it or not,” he added.

In September this year, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau alleged there was a “potential link between agents of the Government of India” and the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.

India denied Canadian Prime Minister’s allegations and called them “absurd” and “motivated”. In 2020, India had designated Nijjar a terrorist. 

Meanwhile, in November, a 52-year-old Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, was charged by the US Justice Department for his involvement in an alleged murder plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The US Justice Department also said that Gupta collaborated with an Indian government agency employee to allegedly plot the assassination. 

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