US Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Urges India To Work On Nijjar's Murder (Image:twitter.com/DrSJaishankar)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday urged India to cooperate with the Canadian Intelligence investigation into the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Earlier, the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the murder has links with the Indian government and eventually triggered a huge diplomatic row between both the countries.
India and Canada being the allies of US, are supposed to work together to resolve the matter, advocated the US top diplomat, say reports.
India”s foreign minister S Jaishankar earlier confirmed that he had spoken to Mr Blinken and the U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan about the Canadian allegations. Mr Blinken met S Jaishankar at the State Department on Thursday afternoon.
“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”, said Mr Jaishankar on Friday in Washington DC while addressing a press conference.
It was recently, the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the murder of pro-Khalistani Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar is an extraterritorial assassination operated by the Indian government. Mr Trudeau initiated an investigation on the matter with the help of Canadian Intelligence agencies. India has earlier dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
The row got more worsened as both of the country expelled its senior diplomats. India also suspended visa services in Canada citing ‘operational reasons’, and the National Investigative Agency (NIA) issued three separate requests demanding information from the public to identify ten wanted Khalistani extremists accused in San Francisco Indian Consulate attack case.
The Foreign minister also expressed that India is willing to look into the matter if Canada provides specific or relevant information and evidences to substantiate their allegation. “I have said that if somebody gives us specific or relevant information, we’re prepared to look at it”, the minister said on Tuesday 26 September.
Great to meet my friend US Secretary of State @SecBlinken at State Department today.
A wide ranging discussion, following up on PM @narendramodi’s June visit. Also exchanged notes on global developments.
Laid the groundwork of our 2+2 meeting very soon. pic.twitter.com/mOw9SIX1dO
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 28, 2023
