New Delhi : Though, neither Canada nor India’s foreign ministry has confirmed the meeting of two countries diplomate but according to the British newspaper Financial Times, Canadian Foreign Minister, Melanie Jolie had a secret meeting with Indian Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar in Washington a few days ago, amid a diplomatic standoff between the two countries over Canada’s allegations of India’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The report also stated that the Canadian government was making efforts to resolve the tense diplomatic situation with New Delhi, following the reports said that Canadian diplomats were given a deadline to leave India or take risk losing their diplomatic immunity. The Canadian foreign minister said earlier this month that they were trying to resolve the issue privately.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said that his country does not want to “escalate the strain situation” with India and affirmed that the Canada will continue to “engage responsible and constructive relationships with India”.
A recent report by Canada’s CTV News mentioned that the country already has transferred around 30 diplomatic embassy staff members from India to either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Needless to mention, relations between India and Canada deteriorated after Trudeau alleged that the Indian security agent’s “possible” involvement in the killing of Khalistani criminal Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia on September 19. On June 18, Nijjar was shot dead by two masked gunmen and Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a Canadian citizen.
Rejecting the allegations, India’s Ministry of External Affairs reacted strongly and described the allegations as “absurd” and “influenced”. In a sharp reaction to Canada’s expulsion of an Indian embassy official, New Delhi had also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat. Last week, India asked Canada to maintain a “high diplomatic presence”, citing Canada. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs had asked the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reduce embassy staff to “maintain parity” in diplomatic presence.
