India-Canada row: ‘Shared intelligence among Five Eyes’ informed Trudeau’s allegations, says US diplomat

A top US diplomat confirmed that ‘shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners’ had prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations about the involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Five Eyes intelligence alliance comprises the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

Canadian news channel CTV News Channel reported US Ambassador to Canada David Cohen as saying that there was "shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners" that informed Trudeau's public allegation of a "potential" link between the government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen. 

The CTV report stated that there have been "swirling questions" about the intelligence at the centre of the row as well as who was aware of it. 

The CTV report, based on the Cohen interview on the channel’s programme 'Question Period with Vassy Kapelos', added that Cohen did not comment on whether the intelligence informing the Canadian government’s investigation was human or surveillance-based. This is the first admission by any US government official about the sharing of intelligence by Five Eyes partners with Canada even when there were multiple unofficial and non-official reports about the same.

Cohen said that the information did not come from Canada alone and that additional information was shared by an unnamed Five Eyes partner. 

Before Cohen, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had also said that he was “deeply concerned” about Justin Trudeau’s allegations. Blinken had also said the US has engaged directly with the Indian government on the issue.

India dismissed Justin Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”. Following the accusations, both India and Canada expelled each other’s top diplomats, and issued advisory to its citizens against travelling to the other country. 

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose killing sparked the row, was designated a terrorist in 2020 by India. 

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