UK won’t stop India trade talks despite row over murder of Sikh leader

LONDON — Britain will not pull out of trade talks with India despite allegations that the country’s government sanctioned the assassination of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson on Tuesday said it would not “get ahead” of the investigation being carried out by the Canadian government — a G7 and Five Eyes ally of Britain — and that “when we have concerns with countries we are negotiating trade deals with, we will raise them directly with the government.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sensationally claimed on Monday night that there are “credible allegations” that India’s government was involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June — a claim New Delhi denies.

Nijjar, a well-known activist and advocate of an independent Sikh nation, was murdered by two gunmen outside his home in British Columbia on June 18.

The claims, which the Indian government calls “absurd and motivated,” have sunk Canada and India relations, with the two sides suspending trade talks last week after a meeting between Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau said.

Britain is currently deep into negotiations of a U.K.-India trade deal, which Sunak hopes could be wrapped up as soon as next month if both sides make final concessions.

New Delhi was reportedly furious with Sunak’s government in March for not more forcefully condemning the violent protests outside the country’s London embassy by supporters of a Sikh separatist movement.