“Investigations are still under way but obviously these are concerning reports,” she said.
“Australia’s principal position is that we believe the sovereignty of a country should be respected. We believe the rule of law should be respected.”
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Tensions escalated on Tuesday (AEST) when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was investigating “credible allegations” linking Indiato the killing of a Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh leader,Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar was a key figure in the Khalistanseparatist movement,which is campaigning to establish an independent state for Sikhs in the northern Indian region of Punjab.
The 45-year-old was designated a “terrorist” by India in July 2020 and gunned down outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey,British Columbia.
“Over the past number of weeks,Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau told parliament as he vowed to “to hold perpetrators of this murder to account”.