India FM speaks to Blinken, Sullivan as row over Sikh murder simmers

India's foreign minister said he has spoken to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan about Canadian allegations of New Delhi's possible involvement in the June killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.

Ties between the two countries have been strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told parliament earlier this month that Canada suspected Indian government agents were linked to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has dismissed Canada's allegations as absurd and both countries have expelled a diplomat in a tit-for-tat move.

A US official confirmed that Blinken spoke to India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday and urged India to cooperate with the Canadian investigation, but a US State Department statement made no mention of the issue.

"They shared US views and assessments on this whole situation and I explained to them at some length ... a summary of the concerns which I had," Jaishankar said on Friday at a Hudson Institute event in Washington DC.

Sikh group protests outside Golden Temple

Meanwhile, hundreds of Sikh activists staged a demonstration outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar, in the northern Indian state of Punjab, demanding punishment for the killers of a Sikh separatist in Canada.

India has denied any role in the killing, refuting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, describing the allegations as "absurd". The accusations have sparked tensions between the two countries, with each nation expelling diplomats, and New Delhi suspending visas for Canadians.

Holding posters of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the protesters outside the holiest of Sikh shrines shouted slogans asking New Delhi to stop extrajudicial operations against separatists seeking Punjab as an independent state, "Khalistan".

Nijjar, who worked as a plumber, left the north Indian state of Punjab a quarter-century ago and became a Canadian citizen. He has supported the formation of a Sikh homeland. India designated him a "terrorist" in July 2020.

"It is time and opportunity for New Delhi to talk with Sikh leadership," said Paramjit Singh Mand, a leader of Dal Khalsa, the group, which is advocating for a separate Sikh homeland and organised the protest.

Sikhs make up just two percent of India's 1.4 billion people but they are a majority in Punjab, a state of 30 million where their religion was born 500 years ago.

Nearly 400 activists participated in the protest and later held prayers at the temple for the release of political prisoners and for the well-being of exiled separatists, said Kanwar Pal, political affairs secretary of the group.

"We thank the Canadian government for exposing the Indian design, how India is operating on foreign soil, intervening in Canadian affairs," he said.