US president Joe Biden and other western leaders expressed concern to Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, about Canadian claims that New Delhi was involved in the murder of a Sikh separatist in Canada when they met the Indian leader at the G20 this month.

Three people familiar with the discussions at the G20 summit said several members of the Five Eyes — an intelligence-sharing network that includes the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — raised the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar with Modi. One said Biden felt it was important to raise the issue directly with his Indian counterpart.

Adrienne Watson, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, said “targeting dissidents in other countries is absolutely unacceptable and we will keep taking steps to push back on this practice”.