India has categorically rejected Canada’s allegations, calling them “baseless”.
New Delhi:
Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington today amid the diplomatic row with Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June this year.
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Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Blinken met last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York. However, the diplomatic crisis between India and Canada was not part of the discussions, the US State Department said.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to comment on the specific issues that will be discussed during the upcoming meeting between the two leaders. He, however, assured that the US had asked India to cooperate with the Canadian investigation into Nijjar’s murder.
“I don’t want to preview the discussions he (Blinken) will have at this meeting (with Mr Jaishankar), but as we have made clear, we have addressed this; “We have spoken to our Indian colleagues in this regard and have encouraged their cooperation.” “We support the Canadian investigation and continue to encourage their cooperation,” said Mr. Miller.
In a speech at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York on Tuesday, Mr. Jaishankar reiterated India’s stance on the allegations made by Canada and stressed that India does not participate in such actions for political and principled reasons.
Mr Blinken said the US was deeply concerned by the Canadian prime minister’s allegations. He added that the US wants to see “accountability” and that it is important that the investigation takes its course and leads to a result.
India has categorically rejected Canada’s allegations, calling them “baseless”. Mr. Jaishankar has assured Canada that India will investigate the matter if concrete information about Nijjar’s killing is provided to it.
“We have told Canadians that this is not the policy of the Indian government. Secondly, we said if you have something concrete and relevant, let us know. We are open to examining it…The picture is not complete in a way without the context,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mr Jaishankar addressed the 78th UN General Assembly and called on UN member states to resist “political expediency” in their responses to extremism, terrorism and violence. This was widely seen as an implicit criticism of Canada.
Mr Jaishankar called on UN member states to respect territorial integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of all countries, saying the era when a few nations set the agenda for the rest of the world was over. His comments were widely seen as a veiled dig at China and Canada.
The diplomatic spat between India and Canada was triggered after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that his government had “credible allegations” about India’s involvement in the killing of Nijjar on Canadian soil in June.
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