Indias External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took a jibe at the Canadian government amid the ongoing diplomatic standoff between India and Canada and said that the Canadian attitude is very impressive towards terrorists, and extremist people who openly advocate violence.Speaking on the India-Canada row in Washington, Mr 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, and extremist people who openly advocate violence. And they have been given operating space in Canada because of the compulsions of Canadian politics.”#WATCH | Washington, DC: On India- Canada row, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, …For us, it has certainly been a country where, organized crime from India, mixed with trafficking in people, mixed with secessionism, violence, terrorism. Its a very toxic combination of issues and… pic.twitter.com/tLGgQ15QdO— ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2023 Furthermore, Jaishankar stated that the Indian diplomats are unsafe going to the embassy in Canada because of the critical situation there.“Today, Im actually in a situation where my diplomats are unsafe going to the embassy, or the consulate in Canada. They are publicly intimidated. And that has compelled me to temporarily suspend even visa operations in Canada”.Jaishankar also clarified that he had spoken about Canada with the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and US State Secretary Antony Blinken.#WATCH | Washington, DC: On India- Canada row, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, Yes, I spoke to NSA Jake Sullivan and (US Secretary of State) Antony Blinken about Canada. They shared US views and assessments on this whole situation… I think hopefully we both came out of those… pic.twitter.com/h3CYOBrlIF— ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2023 Jaishankar said,”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, thats where that conversation is at this point”.India suspended visa servicesEarlier, India suspended its visa services in Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who is a designated terrorist in India, who was shot dead outside a Gurudwara on June 18.Amid the strained situation, India issued an advisory for its citizens and those who are traveling to Canada to exercise “utmost caution given growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence” in Canada.
