India-Canada Row: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar received a request from US Secretary of States Antony Blinken to join Canada's investigation into the murder of Khalistani separatist and chief of banned Khalistan Tiger Force, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, when the two leaders met in Washington on Thursday.

According to a report by Reuters, quoting a US official, Blinked asked Jaishankar to cooperate in the investigation carried out by Canada into the killing of Nijjar, a development which led to the straining of diplomatic ties between India and Canada earlier this month.

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"Blinken raised the Canadian matter in his meeting, (and) urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada’s investigation," said the U.S. official as quoted by Reuters. However, no such mention was found in the release by the US State Department, which said that Jaishankar and Blinken only discussed the bilateral ties between India and the US.

The official statement put out by the American side on the bilateral meeting which took place in Washington, stated. "[Both the leaders] discussed a full range of issues, including key outcomes of India’s G20 presidency, and the creation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and its potential to generate transparent, sustainable, and high-standard infrastructure investments."

"The Secretary and the External Affairs Minister also emphasized the continued importance of cooperation ahead of the upcoming 2+2 Dialogue, in particular in the areas of defence, space, and clean energy," it further added.

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Meanwhile, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, in an earlier statement in Quebec on Thursday, said that the USA would 'definitely' bring up the issue with the Indian side. While speaking to the reporters in Montreal on Thursday, Trudeau repeated the allegations about Indian involvement in the killing of Nijjar, which he claimed was a Canadian citizen and community leader.

"The Americans have been with us in speaking to the Indian government about how important it is that they be involved in following up on the credible allegations that agents of the Indian government killed a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil," Trudeau told reporters in Montreal on Thursday.