India-Canada row: EAM Jaishankar discusses matter with top US officials, says ‘we were open to…’
India's External Affairs Minister discusses diplomatic crisis with top US officials amid tensions with Canada.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held discussions with top US officials on Friday amid a brewing diplomatic crisis between India and Canada. Ties between the two countries had become strained after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar earlier this month. The claims have been vehemently denied by India.
“The Canadian PM made some allegations initially privately, and then publicly. And, our, response to him, both in private and public, what he was alleging was not consistent with our policy. And that if he had, if his government had anything relevant and specific they would like us to look into, we were open to looking at it. Now, that's where that conversation is at this point of time...” EAM Jaishankar said.
“This has been an issue of great, friction for many years with Canada. But in the last few years, it has come back, very much into play, because of what we consider to be a very permissive Canadian attitude towards terrorists, extremist people who openly advocate violence. And they have been given operating space in Canada because of the compulsions of Canadian politics...” he added.
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The lawmaker said that he had held discussions on the matter with US NSA Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“They shared US views and assessments on this whole situation and I explained to them at some length…a summary of the concerns which I had.”
Jaishankar also tagged the ‘toxic combination of issues and people’ currently operating in Canada.
“For us, it has certainly been a country where, organized crime from India, mixed with trafficking in people, mixed with secessionism, violence, terrorism…Today, I'm actually in a situation where my diplomats are unsafe going to the embassy, or to the consulate in Canada. They are publicly intimidated. And that has actually compelled me to temporarily suspend even visa operations in Canada...” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Business NewsNewsIndiaIndia-Canada row: EAM Jaishankar discusses matter with top US officials, says ‘we were open to…’
First Published:29 Sep 2023, 07:53 PM IST
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