Bharat’s External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, recently addressed the distinction between concerns raised by the US and Canada regarding an alleged plot to murder Khalistani separatists on their soil. He highlighted that the issues raised by the two countries are not necessarily the same.
On Canada and US, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, "I think everybody knows that India is a country where we are very responsible, very prudent on what we do and the whole issue for us has been that we have always maintained that. If any country, not just Canada, if any country has a… pic.twitter.com/nMMe8Ameqy
— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2023
In response to the concerns raised by the US, Jaishankar mentioned that specific information was provided by the Americans, and in international relations, challenges like these can arise. Bharat expressed its willingness to further investigate the matter based on the information provided.
Regarding Canada’s accusations, Jaishankar emphasized that Bharat did not receive specific evidence or inputs from Ottawa. He stated that if any country has concerns and provides a basis for those concerns, Bharat is open to looking into the matter. However, in the case of Canada, no specific evidence was provided to warrant equitable treatment with the US.
The context of these statements relates to recent developments where the US Justice Department claimed that an Bharatiye government employee attempted to hire a hitman to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a plot foiled by US authorities. In contrast, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused the Bharat government of involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in September, a claim that India dismissed as “absurd.”
Jaishankar clarified that Bharat initiated an inquiry committee to investigate the inputs received from the US, as the matter was deemed to have implications for national security. However, he emphasized that Canada did not provide specific evidence or inputs to warrant similar treatment in their case. According to sources, Canadian officials had shared evidence, including communications and phone numbers, with New Delhi before Trudeau’s public allegations.
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