By Admin 
America has framed charges against gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and one of his associates in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. This allegation proves that the murder of the separatist was not the work of the Indian government, but of an international criminal syndicate. 33-year-old Lawrence Bishnoi is the head of ‘Bishnoi Gang’. He is known for many high-profile crimes in India and abroad. At present he is in jail.
Earlier allegations had put diplomatic relations, especially between Canada and India, in serious trouble. Nijjar was a Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist leader who was associated with the campaign for the creation of Khalistan. India had declared him a terrorist and accused him of being involved in violent activities. On June 18, 2023, he was shot dead outside a Gurudwara in the city of ‘Surrey’ near Vancouver. This murder became a major cause of tension in Canada-India relations.
Justin Trudeau had accused India
Then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canadian authorities were actively investigating “credible allegations” linking the murder to Indian government agents. India had rejected these allegations calling them absurd. However, these allegations led to a major diplomatic crisis between the two countries, which included expelling diplomats and freezing bilateral relations. Now America has made public a chargesheet, in which Lawrence Bishnoi and his associate Satinderjit Singh alias Goldie Brar have been accused of conspiring to murder Nijjar.
No evidence of Indian involvement
According to the allegations, Bishnoi directed the massacre from an Indian prison, while Brar supervised its activities in North America. The important thing is that this charge sheet does not mention any role of the Indian government in the murder of Nijjar. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC News) report broadcast on Wednesday (July 8) Indian time, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Deputy Commissioner Lisa Moreland said in an interview, ‘No evidence was found in the investigation of the involvement of Indian officials.’
According to the report, he also said that the Indian government cooperated in the investigation. Several US media reports also said the charges focus on organized crime networks, undermining earlier Canadian allegations of alleged Indian government involvement. CNN reported on July 8 that at a press conference in Los Angeles, US officials (including First Assistant US Attorney Bill Astley) did not allege that the Indian government was involved in or had knowledge of the killing.
India had rejected Canada’s allegations
India was largely blamed due to public statements by Canada that raised suspicions of government involvement. India had strongly denied these allegations. The case now presents Nijjar’s murder as an international organized crime operation rather than a state-sponsored action. Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail on Wednesday described the murder and the controversy that followed as the cause of the geopolitics crisis. The newspaper said the US indictment against Bishnoi and his associates made no mention of the claim that Indian government agents were behind the murder.
In October last year, Canada’s Toronto Sun newspaper had written that after years of mistrust and accusations, the strained relations between Canada and India are now improving. The newspaper said that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney inviting the Indian Prime Minister for talks is a sign that relations between the two countries are normalizing. This comment was made in the context of relations that had deteriorated during Carney’s previous tenure.
Initiative to improve India-Canada relations
The report said, ‘Two years ago, relations with India deteriorated after former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly alleged in Parliament that the Modi government had organized the killing of prominent Sikh separatist Nijjar in the parking lot of a gurudwara in British Columbia in June 2023.’ The report quoted Alan Kessel, a former Canadian diplomat and senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, as saying that relations between the two countries began to improve after Carney took the initiative to improve ties with India and invited Prime Minister Modi for the G-7 summit in Alberta.
Kessel said, ‘This was a clear signal that Canada is returning to the direction of dialogue and not adopting a policy of isolation.’ In September 2023, Trudeau publicly alleged that there was credible evidence of Indian government involvement in Nijjar’s murder. India immediately rejected these allegations calling them absurd. After this, both the countries expelled each other’s senior diplomats, stopped trade talks and suspended ministerial dialogues.
Canada’s stance changed after Mark Carney became PM
After political changes in Canada and Mark Carney becoming Prime Minister in May 2025, Ottawa reconsidered its policy towards India. Carney met Prime Minister Modi during the G-7 summit held in Alberta last year and agreed to bring relations back on track. After this, both the countries reinstated the appointment of their respective High Commissioners, visa services resumed and ministerial talks resumed on issues like trade, energy, environment and security. Also, security officials of both the countries started exchanging information regarding common concerns.