The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday called on India to work with Canada after Ottawa suggested New Delhi was involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.

“From our perspective, it’s important that the Canadian investigation continues,” Blinken said when asked about the issue at a news conference in New York.

“And it would be important for India to work with the Canadians in this research,” he added.

The US Secretary of State emphasized that the US is in contact with the Indian authorities and that Washington wants this investigation to be completed and allow justice to be served and responsibilities to be held.

“We are extremely cautious when there are allegations of transnational repression, it is something we take very seriously,” he noted.

The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a major diplomatic crisis by implying that Indian authorities were allegedly involved in the June killing outside his temple in western Canada of Canadian-born Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijar.

The crisis was marked by expulsions of diplomats on both sides.

This case is extremely delicate for the US, a neighboring country and historical ally of Canada, but which, under President Joe Biden, has begun a dynamic approach with the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The White House on Thursday was quick to deny any “disagreement” between the US and Canada over India, reacting to media reports.

The American newspaper Washington Post reported in its article, which was later corrected, that Canada had unsuccessfully asked its allies and especially the US to publicly condemn the killing of the Sikh leader, pointing out the responsibility of New Delhi.