S. Jaishankar
Regarding the violence and intimidation directed towards Indian diplomats and missions, S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, stated that the current situation in Canada should not be taken as normal and made it plain that India does not need to learn about the concept of freedom of speech from other countries.
A gang of pro-Khalistan activists allegedly tried to set the San Francisco Consulate on fire in July. Police were looking into the incident, but there was no significant damage or casualties.
The death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was allegedly carried out by the Indian government, according to a startling claim made by Trudeau on September 18. India, on the other hand, has categorically denied the charges, labeling them as “absurd” and “motivated.”
On Friday, while visiting the US, Jaishankar spoke at a news conference in Washington, DC.
On the diplomatic dispute between India and Canada, Jaishankar said:
Protests in favor of Khalistan: Jaishankar remarked that freedom of expression should not include calling for violence in an apparent reference to Canada.
“I flagged this both here (in the US) and to the Canadians as well. A democracy exists here. We don’t have to wait for others to explain what free speech entails; we can just tell folks this.We don’t believe that inciting violence is covered by the right to free expression. To us, that is a misuse of freedom and is not a defense of freedom.
The topic of pro-Khalistani protests in Canada was brought up during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month, and he declared that Canada will seek to prevent violence and fight back against bigotry.
Nevertheless, he asserted that “Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest and it is extremely important to us… at the same time, we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred.”
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Jaishankar enquired as to how other nations would respond if they were in India’s shoes and faced intimidation against their ambassadors, embassies, and residents.
“If you were in my position, how would you respond? What would you do if it was your diplomats, your embassy, or your people? Added he.
During his visit to the US, did India bring up the subject?
“Of course we raised it, yes. What is the situation…the conversation is still going on…Yes, I did work on it for a while.Yes, we also talked about other stuff.Our connection has numerous facets and many places where we may work together. When we look at the world, there are places where our interests converge and cross, and we work closely together in such areas, Jaishankar added.
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