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India strongly rejects new Canadian media report on Nijjar killing, calls it smear campaign

PTI

India on Wednesday strongly trashed as "smear campaign" a Canadian media report that claimed that the Indian prime minister was aware of the alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Referring to the report quoting an unnamed official, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said such "ludicrous statements" should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. "We do not normally comment on media reports. However, such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian government source should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve," he said.

"Smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties," he said. The report in question was published by Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail that cited inputs from a senior national security official.

The report claimed the Indian national security advisor and the external affairs minister were also in the loop of the plot.