External Affairs Minister (EAM) Subramaniam Jaishankar did not have any discussion on the ongoing India-Canada row with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in their meeting last week, as informed by the US State Department on Wednesday.Jaishankar and Blinken met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session, which was joined by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in the quad meeting.US spokesperson informs “That was not a bilateral meeting. It was a meeting of a number of countries. Did not come up in that meeting. We have engaged with our Indian counterparts on this issue and urged them to fully cooperate with the Canadian investigation,” said State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller, while answering to India-Canada diplomatic row.#WATCH | On being asked if the issue of Canadian allegations were raised during talks between EAM Dr S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says, …That was not a bilateral meeting. It was a meeting of a number of… pic.twitter.com/hE8sLicUex— ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2023“As we have made clear, we have raised this. We have engaged with our Indian counter on this and encouraged them to cooperate with the Canadian investigation and we continue to encourage them to cooperate,” he added.India-Canada row Earlier last week, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau made a statement in the Canadian parliament alleging India of being involved in the shooting of a Canadian Khalistani leader in June this year.India has, however, outrightly rejected all the claims, calling it absurd and motivated. calling it absurd and motivated.US: “deeply concerned”On the stand of US of this diplomatic standoff between India and Canada, Anthony Blinen had said that Washington is “deeply concerned” about the allegations made by the Canadian PM about the Indian governments involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.He also said that US wants to see accountability for this killing and called it “important” that the investigation runs its course and leads to the result.“We are deeply concerned about the allegations that Prime Minister Trudeau has raised. We have been consulting throughout very closely with our Canadian colleagues, and not just consulting, coordinating with them on this issue,” Blinken said.“And from our perspective, it is critical that the Canadian investigation proceed. And it would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. We want to see accountability, and its important that the investigation run its course and lead to that result,” he added.Though Canada alleged Indias hand in the terrorists killing, the country has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claimFollowing the allegations by Trudeau, India has suspended its visa services in Canada. India has also issued an advisory for its citizens and those who are travelling to Canada to exercise “utmost caution in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence” in the country.
