'Diplomatic Conversations Best When...': Canada Wants To Keep It 'Private' As Row With India Simmers

Canada has sought private talks with India as the diplomatic row simmers between both countries.

As the diplomatic tiff between Canada and India over the killing of Khalistani sympathiser Hardeep Singh Nijjar continues to garner global attention, Ottawa has sought to keep the talks 'private' as Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told. This comes after the Financial Times reported that India asked Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats. However, the minister did not respond to the same and said 'diplomatic conversations are best when they remain private.' 

"We are in contact with the government of India. We take Canadian diplomats' safety very seriously and we will continue to engage privately because we think diplomatic conversations are best when they remain private," Joly told reporters.

The relationship between the countries was strained after Canada expelled an Indian diplomat and Prime Minister Trudeau alleged an Indian government link to the killing of Nijjar even though he maintained that Ottawa was not looking to escalate matters. India retaliated with a tit-for-tat move expelling a Canadian diplomat and dismissing the allegations as absurd.

Earlier, Trudeau asserted he was committed to building "strong ties" with India, but added that Ottawa wanted New Delhi to work closely to ensure all facts about the killing of Nijjar were there with Canada, reported The National Post. PM Trudeau emphasised that India needed to work with Canada to ensure that "we get the full facts of this matter".

Trudeau had on September 18 made an explosive allegation of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, in Surrey in British Columbia on June 18.

India has rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated.” It also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

Nijjar, 45, was the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on June 18 in the parking lot of Surrey Gurdwara Sahib in Brampton.

Nijjar was accused of threatening to kill Indian diplomats posted in the UK, Canada and Australia, and was wanted by India for his alleged involvement in the Khalistan separatist movement as one of its leaders. He even took out protests and rallies with the posters of Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Consul General of India Apoorva Srivastava in Toronto, threatening to bring harm to them if their demands were not met. Their demand was to create a separate country carved out of India’s Punjab.