Business as usual: Dispute with Canada won’t dent ongoing India-UK trade talks

LONDON: The UK government said on Tuesday that the “serious allegations” over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada will not impact its own ongoing trade negotiations with India.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson at 10 Downing Street was asked about the impact the issue may have on India-UK relations after a government spokesperson said the UK remains in “close touch” with the Canadian authorities.

It follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in Parliament on Monday that it is pursuing “credible allegations” of “potential” Indian links to the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the chief of Khalistan Tiger Force and a designated terrorist. Canada also expelled an Indian diplomat.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on Tuesday strongly rejected the claims as “absurd and motivated” and dismissed a senior Canadian diplomat in a reciprocal move. “We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations, a UK government spokesperson said. “It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities, the spokesperson said. Later, when Sunak’s spokesperson was pressed on the matter, he said work on the trade negotiations with India “continue as before”. “The Canadian authorities will conduct their work which we’re not going to pre-empt,” the spokesperson said.

To a query, the person said “It’s important not to get ahead of the work that our Canadian partners are doing in regard to this allegation.” “India have put out their own statement on this. For our part, when we have concerns with countries we’re negotiating trade deals with, we’ll raise them directly,” the spokesperson said, adding that UK was “not looking to conflate these issues.” India and the UK earlier this month agreed to continue to work at pace towards a landmark free trade agreement.