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India-Canada Crisis: Amid the diplomatic row between India and Canada over the murder of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Nijjar, a news has claimed that Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie had a secret meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Washington last month.
This news of the Financial Times has come to light at a time when Canada did not fulfill India’s request to recall more than 36 of its 62 diplomats.
When asked about this alleged meeting, the Foreign Ministry has refused to comment. At the same time, there has been no response from Canada either. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was in Washington DC from 27 to 30 September after the end of his five-day visit to New York.
Justin Trudeau had accused India
It is noteworthy that relations between India and Canada have come under strain after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of alleged involvement of Indian agents in the murder of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year. At the same time, India had rejected these allegations as absurd.
India had declared Nijjar a terrorist
Nijjar was shot dead by two masked gunmen in British Columbia. India declared him a terrorist in 2020. It was said in the news that Canada has 62 diplomats in India and India has asked Canada to recall 41 of its diplomats from the country by October 10.
Canada trying to resolve the impasse
The report said that talks are ongoing between the two sides on India’s request to reduce the number of Canadian diplomatic staff in the country. According to the Financial Times report, Trudeau and Jolie said last week that Canada was trying to resolve the impasse. According to the news, at the end of last month, Jolie also held a confidential meeting with Jaishankar in Washington.
‘Secret talks are better than diplomacy’
Jolie said in response to a question during a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday (October 11) that diplomacy is always better when talks remain secret. She emphasized that she will continue to adopt the same approach when it comes to India.
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