"We are in JFK (assassination) conspiracy territory...": Top US policy expert questions Canada's "evidence" on Nijjar probe

Washington, DC [US], October 15 : Amid diplomatic row between India and Canada over Ottawa providing space to violent extremists and "evidence" on Nijjar assasination probe, a top US policy expert has taken a dig at the Trudeau government, saying that the Canadian crisis seems to arise whenever Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gets into political trouble and looking at "Canadian evidence and their accusations, we were in JFK conspiracy territory".
Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum, said India got to stand up for itself and the problem with Canada's accusations is the same as it was more than a year ago.
"India has got to stand up for itself. The problem with Canada's accusations today is the same as they were more than a year ago. They're alighting a lot of the evidence. It seems to be that the Canadian crisis seems to arise whenever Justin Trudeau gets into political trouble. He's now polling ten per cent behind the opposition leader," Rubin told ANI.
"When you look at the evidence that the Canadians are citing, there's not a lot of there and for me as an American, when I read the Canadian evidence and their accusations, we were in JFK conspiracy territory. We were in the territory relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. For example, arguing that the Canadians arguing that the Indians were leveraging organized crime in Canada to do their own dirty work. Look, the complaint of the Indians all along is, why are you blaming us? You have this snowballing organized crime problem, which we've been warning you about, and it's almost like the Canadians are turning around and blaming everything on India, that India warned the Canadians about to try to prevent," he added.
Decades after US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, unanswered questions have continued to fuel conspiracy theories.
Answering a query about the US raising issue of an alleged plot to kill a Khalistani separatist, Rubin said the Americans recognize the complexity of the issue and it isn't simply a matter of accusing India for political gain.
Rubin said India's San Francisco consulate has been attacked twice by Sikh extremists, by Khalistani militants.
"Our take on this is that the Americans realise that there is a nuanced problem. The difference between the Americans and the Canadians, the Canadian seems to be flying by the seat of Justin Trudeau's pants... The Americans recognize the complexity of the issue. This isn't simply a matter of accusing India for political gain. Look, the San Francisco consulate has been attacked twice by sikh extremists, by Khalistani militants," he said.
"The Americans understand at this point that the Khalistani militants are engaged in organized crime and therefore they recognize that not all is as meets the eye. That's why the Indians seem to also be much more willing to trust the American investigation because the American investigation is much less designed to protect a single Prime Minister and much more designed to get to the heart of the matter," he added.
India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats hours after it summoned Canada's Charge d'Affaires Stewart Wheeler and conveyed that the "baseless targeting" of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable.
MEA said earlier that it was underlined to the Canada's Charge d'Affaires that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government's actions endangered their safety and the government had decided to withdraw India's High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma and other targeted diplomats and officials.
The Indian government conveyed that India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the "Trudeau Government's support for extremism, violence and separatism against India".
"Canadian Charge d'Affaires was summoned by Secretary (East) this evening. He was informed that the baseless targeting of the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats and officials in Canada was completely unacceptable," the MEA release said.
"It was underlined that in an atmosphere of extremism and violence, the Trudeau Government's actions endangered their safety. We have no faith in the current Canadian Government's commitment to ensure their security. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials," it added.
News reports citing Canadian government source had said that Canada has expelled six Indian diplomats after police collected evidence they were part of an Indian government "campaign of violence".
Amid worsening ties between the two countries, India had earlier on Monday "strongly" rejected a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats were "persons of interest" in an investigation and termed it as "preposterous imputations" and part of the political agenda of the Justin Trudeau government.
In a hard-hitting statement, India said Prime Minister Trudeau's hostility to India has long been in evidence and his government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists "to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada."
"We have received a diplomatic communication from Canada yesterday suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats are 'persons of interest' in a matter related to an investigation in that country. The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics," the statement said.
"Since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian Government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side. This latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts. This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains," it added.
The ties between India and Canada soured after Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last year that he has "credible allegations" of India's hand in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India has denied all the allegations, calling them "absurd" and "motivated" and has accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country.Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India's National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.