External Affairs Minister (EAM) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar spoke at the Discussion at Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Tuesday, September 26 and addressed the recent developments in the Inida-Canada relations. He assured the Canadian side to take action if specific information related to the shooting of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar is provided while adding that the Indian side is “open to looking at it.”EAM speaks at conferenceWhile speaking at the conference, Jaishankar said “We told the Canadians that this is not the government of Indias policy. Secondly, we said if you have something specific and if you have something relevant, let us know. We are open to looking at it…The picture is not complete without the context in a way”#WATCH | New York: On India-Canada row, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, …We told the Canadians that this is not the Government of Indias policy…If you have something specific and if you have something relevant, let us know. We are open to looking at it…The picture is not… pic.twitter.com/VcVGzDelJt— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2023 He also stressed on the prevalence of “organised crime” in Canada in the last few years and said that the Indian government had given a lot of information to Canada on this.“…In the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organized crime, relating to the secessionist forces, organized crime, violence and extremism. Theyre all very, very deeply mixed up. So in fact, we have been talking about specifics and information. We have given them a lot of information about organized crime and leadership, which operates out of Canada. There are a large number of extradition requests. There are terrorist leaders, who have been identified,” he said.Very permissive: EAM on attacks on Indian diplomatsThe EAM also spoke on the incidents of Indian missions getting attacked in Canada stating that these are “very permissive” because of political reasons.“Our concern is that its really been very permissive, because of political reasons. So we have a situation where our diplomats are threatened, our consulates have been attacked…A lot of this is often justified, as saying thats how democracies work. If somebody gives me something specific, it doesnt have to be restricted to Canada. But if theres any incident which is an issue and somebody gives me something specific, as a government, I would look at it,” Jaishankar further said.India-Canada rowIndia and Canada have been tangled in a diplomatic standoff after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made s statement accusing the Indian government of being involved in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist. This claim was outrightly rejected by India, calling it “absurd and motivated”, in a statement released by the MEA last week.Following this allegation, the Indian government has suspended visa services in Canada and has asked the Indians in Canada to practice caution. An advisory was issued for its citizens and those 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.(With Agency Inputs)
