Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Wednesday that the government had informed Ottawa that “this is not the Government of India’s policy” in response to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of a possible Indian connection to the murder of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
During a conversation at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, a query regarding the Canadian claim was answered by Jaishankar with, “Yes, I do have a comment. I’ll be very open with you about what we said to the Canadians.
Speaking the day before at the UN General Assembly, Jaishankar remarked that a country’s reaction to “terrorism, extremism, and violence” should not be based on “political convenience”; his comments were interpreted as a subliminal criticism of Canada and its Prime Minister.
Jaishankar, who was speaking to “rule-makers,” referred to Trudeau’s remark that any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil was an “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty” and added that “respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs cannot be exercises in cherry-picking.”
Jaishankar’s remarks have also been interpreted as being directed at Pakistan and China; however, the phrase “rule-makers” actually refers to Canada, a member of the G7 who wields power due to its strong relationship with the US.
Even though these were his initial comments regarding the India-Canada dispute, he placed it within the framework of a universal system of norms. He added that “the days when a few nations set the agenda and expected others to fall in line are over”.
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Since the “picture is not complete” without context, Jaishankar stated at the CFR engagement that one must also understand it.
