New Delhi: Australia’s domestic spy chief has added to the ‘Five Eyes’ countries’ support to Canada by stating that there was “no reason to dispute” claims by Canada of involvement of the Indian government in the killing of a Canadian citizen.Last month, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau had said in the lower house of parliament that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian government agents and the shooting of Canadian Sikh Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who is described as a terrorist by India.In an interview with Australia’s ABC News, Australia Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director general Mike Burgess was asked about his assessment of Canada’s allegations.“I would have no reason to dispute what the Canadian government has said in this matter,” he replied.India had dismissed the allegations as “biased” and “motivated”, reiterating that Canada never taken Indian concerns on activities of pro-Khalistani groups seriously. After Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat, India did the same to a Canadian diplomat. India also suspended visa operations for Canadian nationals and also called on Canada to downsize its diplomatic missions.The US ambassador to Canada David Cohen had explicitly linked the Canadian accusation to the five eyes intelligence network. “There was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that helped lead Canada to making the statements that the Prime Minister made,” he said, in an interview to CTV News, a Canadian news channel. The US has repeatedly asked India to join the Canadian investigations.Australia is also member of the Five Eyes network which is an intelligence-sharing alliance that also includes the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. The ASIO chief also echoed the Australian reaction that the allegations made by Canada were serious.“There’s no doubt any allegation of any country being accused of carrying out an execution of a citizen in that country, it’s a serious allegation, and something that we don’t do and something that nations should not do,” he said.The interview took place on the sidelines of the Five Eyes summit in the US.As per the ABC report, Burgess did not confirm whether the India issue was discussed at the summit.When asked whether Australian Sikhs could be next target for Indian agents, Burgess answered, “Our job is to look for espionage and foreign interference. When we find it, we deal with it effectively. Whether or not it will happen here, I wouldn’t publicly speculate, I don’t think that’s appropriate. I can assure you that when we find governments interfering in our country, or planning to interfere in our country, we will deal with them effectivelyHe observed that “multiple countries” had tried to interfere in Australian society, citing Iran’s attempt to target an Iranian-Australian. The ASIO head noted that in multi-cultural societies, there are often tensions associated from their home countries which find resonance in the diaspora. “For us, that plays out in society, you see protests, counter-protests, and sometimes there’s communal violence or spontaneous violence. That’s not a nation state seeking to interfere and covertly or deceptively harm and intimidate people. Of course, if we see that, we will act,” he added.
