Those responsible for Nijjar murder need to be held accountable: Blinken after meeting Jaishankar

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said those responsible for Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder in Canada need to be held accountable. The statement comes after Blinken's meeting with India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar. Though in the official read-out of the meeting, there was no mention of the Canada issue, both Blinken and Jaishankar separately confirmed that India's diplomatic turmoil with Canada came up during the meeting. At a press conference, Blinken said he hoped India and Canada would work together to resolve the matter and those responsible should be held accountable. This is the stance that the US already clarified in the wake of the India-Canada diplomatic row as it puts the United States in an awkward position.

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of getting Hardeep Singh Nijjar murdered in Canada in June this year. New Delhi rejected the charge and alleged that Canada has become a safe haven for terrorists who are organising crimes in India from Canada. The MEA said while Canada never shared any specific info regarding the killing with India, India over the years sent the whereabouts of many individuals involved in terrorism, and secessionist activities in India. Trudeau maintained his government wants to work with India and information regarding Nijjar's assassination was shared with New Delhi many weeks ago.

"They obviously shared the US views and the assessment of the whole situation. I explained to them, at some length, the summary of the concerns which I had. Hopefully, we both came out of those meetings better informed," Jaishankar said about his meeting with Blinken and NSA Jake Sullivan -- at a discussion at Hudson Institute later.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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