Although Canadia Government is not really cooperating with India, but Canada's defence minister Bill Blair termed the ties with India as “important."

In the past days, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also called for the Indian government's cooperation, after his explosive allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

While Blair didn't say whether the Canadian government’s Indo-Pacific strategy could be reassessed in light of escalated diplomatic tensions between the two nations, he suggested Canada will continue to pursue those partnerships while the investigation into allegations continues.

In an interview with Global News, the Canadian defence minister said, “We understand that this can be, and has proven to be, a challenging issue with respect to our relationship with India.”

“But at the same time, we have a responsibility to defend the law, defend our citizens, and at the same time make sure that we conduct a thorough investigation and get to the truth.”

If the allegations are proven true, Blair said “there is a very significant concern that Canada will have with respect to the violation of our sovereignty in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”

Canada had been seeking deeper trade, defence and immigration ties with India before the “credible intelligence", as Trudeau called it, was first raised with Canadian officials, reported.