Blinken meets Indian counterpart Jaishankar as row between India and Canada simmers

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with India’s foreign minister on Thursday, amid a simmering dispute between New Delhi and Ottawa over suspicions of Indian government involvement in the death of a Sikh activist in Canada.

Blinken and S Jaishankar met at the State Department on Thursday as the US attempts to manage the conflict between its northern neighbour and the South Asian country important to its Indo-Pacific plan to challenge China’s growing influence in the area.

In brief remarks to reporters, neither man addressed the scandal that has strained Canada-India relations, but a US official indicated the subject was broached. According to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential meetings, Blinken pushed India to participate with the Canadian investigation.

“We have consistently engaged with the Indian government on this question and have urged them to cooperate,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters ahead of the meeting.

After the meeting, Miller said in a statement that Blinken and Jaishankar had “discussed a full range of issues, including key outcomes of India’s G20 presidency, and the creation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and its potential to generate transparent, sustainable, and high-standard infrastructure investments.”

They also covered “the continued importance of cooperation ahead of the upcoming 2+2 Dialogue, in particular in the areas of defence, space, and clean energy,” Miller said. The G20 refers to the Group of 20 Summit that was recently held in New Delhi and was attended by President Joe Biden. The “2+2” dialogue is a format for meetings between the US and Indian foreign and defence ministers.

A US State Department statement after Blinken met his Indian counterpart made no mention of Nijjar’s murder or of Canada as a whole.

A short State Department summary of the issues discussed in the meeting between Blinken and Jaishankar, formally called a readout, listed topics like India’s G20 presidency, the creation of an India-Middle East-Europe corridor and topics like defence, space and clean energy.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was sure US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would raise the murder of a Sikh separatist leader when he met his Indian counterpart on Thursday but a US statement after the meeting made no mention of the issue.

“The Americans have been with us in speaking to the Indian government about how important it is that they be involved in following up on the credible allegations that agents of the Indian government killed a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil,” Trudeau said.

“This is something all democratic countries, all countries that respect the rule, need to take seriously and we are moving forward in a thoughtful, responsible way anchored in the rule of law with all partners, including in our approach with the government of India,” he told reporters in Montreal.

Trudeau made his remarks to reporters in Quebec, 10 days after he announced Canada suspected Indian government agents were linked to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which took place in the province of British Columbia in June.

US officials have acknowledged that the fallout from the allegations, which they take seriously, could have a profound impact on relations with India but have been careful not to cast blame on the June killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was slain in a Vancouver suburb.

Nijjar was a Canadian citizen but India had declared him a “terrorist.” Killed by masked gunmen, Nijjar was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan, and India had designated him a terrorist.

India’s foreign ministry has dismissed the allegation as “absurd” and accused Canada of harbouring “terrorists and extremists.” It also implied that Trudeau was trying to drum up domestic support among the Sikh diaspora.

In his comments, Trudeau said Canada did not want to rupture ties with India but takes the matter seriously.

“As we’ve presented with our Indo-Pacific strategy just last year, we’re very serious with about building closer ties with India,” he said. “At the same time … we need emphasize that India needs to work with Canada to ensure that we get the full facts on this matter.”

India has dismissed Canada’s allegations as absurd. Jaishankar, though, said on Tuesday that New Delhi has told Canada it was open to looking into any “specific” or “relevant” information it provides on the killing.

Trudeau, who is yet to publicly share any evidence, said last week he shared the “credible allegations” with India “many weeks ago.”

Blinken said last week the United States was “deeply concerned” about the allegations raised by Trudeau and added it was important for India to work with Canada in this investigation.