US President Joe Biden and other leaders of Five Eyes member nations had raised Canada's concerns regarding the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit this month, said a report.
A report quoting unnamed sources said Biden felt it was important to raise the issue directly with his Indian counterpart, a report by Financial Times said.
The leaders intervened in the issue after Canada urged them to take it up directly with Modi. The claims were mentioned in private.
However, the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Meanwhile, the US on Thursday said it supports Canada's efforts to investigate allegations of India's involvement in the killing of Nijjar. He added that no country can get any "special exemption" for such kind of activities. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters at a White House news conference that the country supports Canada's efforts to investigate allegations of India's involvement in the murder.
"As soon as we heard from the Canadian Prime Minister publicly about the allegations, we went out publicly ourselves and expressed our deep concern about them, our support for a law enforcement process to get to the bottom of exactly what happened, and to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable," Sullivan added.
"I'm not going to get into the substance of private diplomatic conversations, but we are in constant contact with our Canadian counterparts. We are consulting with them closely. We support the efforts that they are undertaking in this investigation and we have also been in touch with the Indian government as well," he said.
He also "firmly" rejected the idea of a wedge between the US and Canada on this issue as indicated by a section of the media. "We have deep concerns about the allegations and we would like to see this investigation carried forward and the perpetrators held to account. That is what the US has stood for from the moment this emerged in public and we will continue to stand for that until this fully plays its way out," he said.
About the evidence, Sullivan said: "I will let that process play out. We are in, as I said before, continuous communication and consultation with the Canadian government and we will remain so as we go forward," he said.
Sullivan also refused to respond to a question on a potential visit of President Joe Biden to India in January. "I do not have anything to announce about travel by the president to India in January or at any other time today," he said.
