Thomas's remark confirmed India's stance that there is no involvement of the the Government of India in Nijjar's killing and PM Justin Trudeau's "baseless" allegations are part of his government's smear campaign against New Delhi.

NSA Jody Thomas testified that initial intelligence and police investigation into the Hardeep Singh Nijjar assassination suggested that the murder was in retaliation for the killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik,

The former national security advisor for Canada said that initially Hardeep Singh Nijjar's death was considered a retaliation for Ripudaman Malik's murder

Jody Thomas has said that initial intelligence and police probe had suggested Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in retaliation for the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was accused of involvement in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing.

Jody Thomas, who was NSA at the time of Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder, told the foreign interference inquiry that members of the Canadian Sikh community were not satisfied with the assessment that the killing was a tit-for-tat for Ripudaman Singh Malik's murder.