The United States says it’s asserting its support for Canada in the midst of a foreign-affairs crisis that places it in an uncomfortable quandary.
Late Tuesday, the U.S. vehemently denied the idea that it has been reluctant to speak publicly on Canada’s behalf amid allegations by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Indian government participated in the extrajudicial killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.
This was after a report in the Washington Post said Ottawa had tried and failed for weeks to get its allies to publicly condemn the murder.
A senior U.S. administration official reached out to CBC News to dispute that characterization.
“It would be a mistake to think that this is suddenly going to become a huge global issue when in reality it is an issue that affects us,” Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, told Power & Politics Tuesday regarding the allegation that the India government was involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen.
“Reports that Canada asked the U.S. to publicly condemn the murder and that we refused are false and we would strongly push back on the rumours that we were reluctant to speak publicly about this,” the official said.
“In fact, we very clearly and very publicly have done the opposite by expressing deep concern shortly after PM Trudeau made the announcement.”
The official then pointed to a statement made Monday night by Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the White House national security council, which called on the Indian government to co-operate with the Canadian investigation.
But the allegation comes at a time when the United States is desperately courting India as an ally in the midst of Washington’s increasingly intense rivalry with its neighbour, China. Just weeks ago, India’s prime minister received a warm welcome at the White House.
Allies not keen to take sides
Canada’s other Five Eyes allies showed little inclination Tuesday to wade into an escalating row between Ottawa and New Delhi over allegations that Indian agents were involved in the assassination of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., on June 18.
Most opted to treat the allegation as a matter still to be investigated — in spite of the fact that the Trudeau government feels it has enough information to make an accusation in Parliament and expel a diplomat.
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adm. John Kirby was perhaps the most supportive of Canada.
“They are certainly serious allegations,” he said Tuesday, “and we believe in order to determine how credible they are, there needs to be a thorough investigation.
“Prime Minister Trudeau has called for that, and so we’ll see how Canada moves forward on this. It’s certainly well within their capacity to do this, and we urge India as well to participate and cooperate in that investigation.”
“It is important to find out exactly what happened.”
