Shared intel among Five Eyes helped Trudeau make allegations against India: US

The United States, for the first time since diplomatic tensions escalated between India and Canada over Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing, confirmed officially that there was "shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners" which informed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the Indian government's possible involvement in the murder.

During an interview with CTV News, a Canadian news network, United States Ambassador to Canada David Cohen said that "there was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that helped lead Canada to making the statements that the PM (Trudeau) made".

However, he did not clarify if the intelligence which informed about the investigation of the Canadian government was both human and surveillance-based, or if it had signals intelligence of Indian diplomats.

ALSO READ |As India-Canada ties sour, New Delhi suspends visa services for Canadians

"This was a matter of shared intelligence information. There was a lot of communication between Canada and the US about this, and I think that's as far as I'm comfortable going," he said.

US, Canada discussed Nijjar's killing

The ambassador further confirmed that a lot of communication took place between the United States and Canada regarding the issue.

"Look, I will say this was a matter of shared intelligence information. There was a lot of communication between Canada and the United States about this, and I think that's as far as I'm comfortable going,” he added.

Further speaking about how the diplomatic escalation between India and China is being interpreted by the US, Cohen said that the US "takes very seriously these allegations."

"And, you know, if they prove to be true, it is a potentially very serious breach of the rules-based international order in which we like to function," he stated.

WATCH |Khalistan terrorist Sukha Duneke killed in gang war in Canada | BREAKING

As per the ambassador, the US officials have informed how US President Joe Biden expressed his concern over the allegations to India and asked the country to co-operate in Canada's investigation.

"We think it's very important to get to the bottom of it," Cohen stated.

Trudeau had earlier informed reporters that the Canadian government officials had been working closely with intelligence agencies since the summer to "make sure that we had a solid grounding in understanding what was going on".

The accusations have been called serious by the members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance - comprising the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

You cannow write for wionews.comand be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with ushere.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE