Serious about building closer ties with India: Trudeau amid diplomatic row over Nijjar killing
Serious about building closer ties with India: Trudeau amid diplomatic row over Nijjar killing
Canada is committed to have “stronger ties” with India, asserted PM Justin Trudeau on Friday, days after making “credible allegations” that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Speaking at a press conference in Montreal, Trudeau said while it is “extremely important” that Canada and its allies engage with India over the allegations of Nijjar’s killing, his country would also like to work with India to strengthen bilateral ties.
“India is a growing economic power and important geopolitical player. And as we presented with our Indo-Pacific strategy, just last year, we’re very serious about building closer ties with India,” stated Trudeau.
“At the same time, obviously, as a rule of law country, we need to emphasise that India needs to work with Canada to ensure that we get the full facts of this matter,” the Canadian prime minister said.
Trudeau also claimed that the US has given its assurance that the allegations made by him against India in Nijjar’s murder will be raised by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a meeting with his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar in Washington DC on Thursday.
“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.
However, the meeting between Jaishankar and Blinken had no mention of the killing of Nijjar.
A short summary of the issues discussed in the meeting formally called a readout was released by the US State Department listed topics like India’s G20 presidency, the creation of an India-Middle East-Europe corridor and topics like defence, space and clean energy.
There was no mention of Nijjar’s killing or Canada as a whole.
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