'This is not a fight we want', says Trudeau after repeating Nijjar killing claims denounced by India

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeated his unfounded accusations of India's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. Trudeau said that he has reached out to New Delhi "to get to the bottom of this matter" as well as Ottawa's western partners to investigate India's alleged role in Nijjar's killing.

Reacting to India's move to reduce the total strength of diplomats stationed in India, Trudeau also repeated the claim that India had violated the Vienna Convention, an assertion denounced by New Delhi in the recent past.

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India's foreign ministry maintains that the country is a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law.

"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," the Indian foreign ministry had said in September when Canada first made the claim related to India's alleged involvement inNijjar's killing.

This is not a fight we want: Justin Trudeau

Over 40 Canadian diplomats were evacuated from Indiaand relocated to other places, including Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

"Think about it from our perspective. We have serious reasons to believe that agents of the government of India could have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. And India's response is to kick out a whole bunch of Canadian diplomats by violating their rights under the Vienna Convention. That is of concern to countries around the world."

But India's foreign ministry maintains that its move to repatriate Canadian diplomats is "consistent" with relevant sections of the Vienna Convention.

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"This is not a fight we want to be having right now. But we will unequivocally always stand up for the rule of law because that's who Canada is," Trudeau further said.

The India-Canada ties remain strained since September when Trudeau made an unprecedented claim that "agents of Indian government" were potentially involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. Trudeau's claim set off a chain of events with reciprocation of diplomatic expulsions, marking a unique low between India and Canada who have historically shared friendly ties.

Nijjar, a wanted terrorist in India and the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force, was shot dead by two masked gunmen in Surrey in the Canadian province of British Colombia in the month of June.