Washington, DC: US State Department on Wednesday informed that the India-Canada diplomatic standoff regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar didn’t come up during last week’s meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Jaishankar had met his US counterpart Blinken in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa were also present at the Quad meeting.
“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.
“As we have made clear, we have raised this. We have engaged with our Indian counterparts on this and encouraged them to cooperate with the Canadian investigation and we continue to encourage them to cooperate,” he added.
Early last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an explosive statement accusing the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’.
Earlier, Antony Blinken had said that Washington is “deeply concerned” about the allegations made by the Canadian PM about the Indian government’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, adding that the US wants to see accountability 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.
He added, “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 it’s important that the investigation run its course and lead to that result,” he added.
Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India has suspended its visa services in Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s allegations of Indian involvement in the killing.
Amid strained ties, India 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.