New Delhi: In a new development after months of acrimony, Canada’s outgoing national security advisor Jody Thomas has claimed that India is now “cooperating” on the case in which the Canadian government has alleged that an Indian government agent may be linked to the killing of a Canadian citizen.

Thomas had travelled to India several times to talk to the Indian government over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, before Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau went public with the allegations on September 19.

In an interview to CTV News ahead of her superannuation, Thomas was asked a question on why India was not cooperating in probing Canadian allegations.

“I wouldn’t describe them as not cooperating,” she replied.

When probed further, Thomas said that both “have made advancements in the relationship”.

“And they (India) understand what we believe happened,” she added.

Two weeks ago, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar had said that the difference in approach to the similar allegations made by Canada and the United States was because the latter had shared information. “The first is when the Americans believed they had an issue, whether their belief is validated or not only the court can decide, they came to us and said look we have these concerns and we are sharing this with you and would like you to find out what’s happening. The Canadians did not do this,” he told The Times of India.

This was a reiteration of what he had said last month after India had set up a high-level committee to look into the accusation made by US investigators.

On November 29, US federal prosecutors charged an Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta with collaborating with an Indian government official in a foiled plot to assassinate Khalistani separatist lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual citizenship in the US and Canada.

Also read: ‘Nick’, a Money Courier and a Hitman: What New Documents Say About The Pannun Murder Plot

“Insofar as Canada is concerned, no specific evidence or inputs were provided to us. So the question of equitable treatment to two countries, one of whom has provided input and one of whom has not, does not arise,” Jaishankar had said in Rajya Sabha on December 7. 

There has been no reaction from the Indian government over the claims made by the senior outgoing official of the Trudeau administration on this ostensible change in New Delhi’s position.

Indian NSA’s role

Thomas specifically noted that her discussions with her counterpart, India’s national security advisor Ajit Doval, were positive.

“The RCMP investigation is well underway and so I can’t speak too much about it. The RCMP will hopefully be able to prosecute the individuals accountable and responsible. But my discussions with my counterpart in India have been fruitful and I think they’ve moved things forward,” she stated.

When asked if India’s position had changed, Thomas replied, “It’s very much an evolution”.

After Trudeau made the explosive accusations on the floor of the Canadian parliament, India had reacted angrily, describing them as “absurd”. Subsequently, both nations expelled a senior diplomat each. India took additional measures by suspending visa services for Canadian nationals, a restriction that was lifted after a month. Additionally, Canada was compelled to withdraw more than 40 diplomats as India insisted on parity on diplomatic presence.

Indian government also insisted publicly that the main issue with Canada was that it was allowing Khalistani groups to thrive under the garb of freedom of speech and expression.

To a question whether the improvement in India’s relationship with Canada was due to the US indictment, Thomas replied, “the two are connected for sure”.

The unsealed November indictment had alleged that Nikhil Gupta had told a hitman that he was trying to hire that there were several jobs in Canada too.

On the evening of Nijjar’s killing on June 18, the unnamed Indian government official had shared a video of the Canadian citizen slumped at his vehicle to Gupta. He promptly forwarded it to a criminal associate helping him to recruit a hitman, later revealed to be an undercover operative. According to the charges, Gupta then purportedly informed his criminal confidante that Nijjar was among the intended targets.

“The US judicial system is different than ours. They unseal indictments in a way we don’t and they were investigating a conspiracy and we’re investigating a murder and theirs was more advanced than ours. So, the information that they revealed supported our position and our assertions with India,” said Thomas.

She reiterated New Delhi’s cooperation, and of NSA Doval, specifically. “India is working with us, and my counterpart in particular far more closely to resolve this”.

The senior Trudeau government official had said that it was important to resolve the murder of a Canadian citizen, but also pointed out that relations with India was important. 

“We think it’s important that we resolve what happened to a Canadian citizen. But we have to have people to people ties. We have a huge diaspora. Again, we have to have a trade relationship. Our ability to function in the Indo Pacific does rely on ha having a healthy relationship with India. And I think that we are working back towards that,” she said.