‘My diplomats feel unsafe going out of consulates in Canada’: Jaishankar tells Blinken

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, September 29: India has countered the claims of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the killing of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In a discussion at Hudson Institute, External Affairs S Jaishankar said that he briefed his American hosts on the Indian perspective on the allegations of Trudeau.

“The fact of the matter is that my diplomats in Canada feel unsafe going out of the consulates. They feel intimidated and threatened. We discussed the allegations of Trudeau. I have apprised of the Indian concerns over the toxic secessionism, trafficking of the people and other issues,” said Jaishankar in reply to a question at the Hudson Institute.

Jaishankar dwelt on the deepening diplomatic row with Canada, saying that the issues of terrorism and secessionism are key concerns in India. “Canada has been a concern since 1980s, and afterwards things were dormant but for the last few years the concerns have become more acute,” said Jaishankar, while stating that he has apprised his hosts – Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of the State, and Jack Sullivan, the national security advisor.

Jaishankar reiterated that Indian leadership had conveyed to the Canadian prime minister that if there was anything specific on the allegations New Delhi would look into them. Jaishankar, in fact, has maintained that India will be looking at evidences if Canada provides anything specific.

Canada state-owned television channel CBS News had claimed in a report that it was the intelligence shared by the ‘Five Eyes’ partner, which made the basis for the Canadian prime minister to make the statement in parliament that “there are credible allegations of the involvement of the Government of India in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar”.

Blinken and Sullivan in the last week had told reporters that the US would urge India to cooperate in the investigations with Canada. Following the allegations of Trudeau, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that the charges were “absurd”. Also, India paused visa services in Canada, citing security risks.  

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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