‘No Need To Learn What Freedom Of Speech Is From Other’ S Jaishankar Amid Canada Row (image-twitter/DrSJaiashankar)
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Friday in Washington DC while addressing a press conference, “We don”t need to learn from others what freedom of speech is about”. And also added that freedom of expression should not extend to incitement of violence.
“…I flagged here (in US), and I flagged this to the Canadians as well. We are a democracy. We don”t need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about, but we can tell people this…we don”t think freedom of speech extends to incitement to violence. That to us, is the misuse of freedom, that”s not defence of freedom”, he said.
Jaishankar remarks came amid tensions heightening in between Canada and India, over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau”s allegations of the involvement of Indian government agents in Khalistani Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar”s killing.
He gave his remark while discussing about the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco and Khalistani threat posters in Canada featuring names of Indian diplomats, says India Today.
He further questioned and asked how other countries would react if they were in India’s position, with their diplomats, embassies and citizens facing intimidation.
“How would you react if you were in my shoes? If it was your diplomats, your embassy, your people, what would be your reaction?” he added.
When asked about the Indian concerns regarding the attack on Indian consulate in San Francisco in July this year, he said, “Yes, of course we raised, it. What is the status…it”s an ongoing conversation…Yes, I did spend some time on it…Yes, we discussed other things…Our relationship has many dimensions, many areas of cooperation. When we look at the world, there are areas we have convergences, and intersections of interest where we work very closely together, we are doing all of that,” reports NDTV.
He added, “Look, I want to be fair. If something is discussed, I am transparent about it. I have no problem saying yes we discussed it. I don”t want you to think that in the India-US relationship, there is only one issue. I would say yes, it”s an ongoing conversation”.
In July this year, a group of pro-Khalistan supporters attempted to set fire to the Consulate in San Francisco. Police are carrying out the investigation.
Jaishankar is currently on a five-day official trip to Washington DC. This is the highest-level interaction that took place between the two countries after the recent G-20 Summit held in New Delhi.
