Sought to Provide Americans with “Accurate Picture” of Canada: Jaishankar

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed Canada's "permissiveness" to terrorism and violence with U.S. officials, which "astonished" many.

The government is having to inform U.S. officials’  perceptions of Canada’s relationship to separatism, based on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s description of his meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

 The minister had characterised Canada as having a “permissiveness” with regard to terrorism and violence, a view that “ astonished” many in the States, he said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had alleged on September 18 that the government was involved in the June killing of a Canadian Khalistani leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. New Delhi has denied any involvement.

“ In a way, a lot of what I said at the meetings, I think was new to the Americans,” Mr. Jaishankar told journalists at a press conference on Friday afternoon at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC.

It was important for the government to talk things through with the U.S. government because they were  “ good friends” and also “close” to Canada, and it was important for them to have an “ accurate picture” , Mr. Jaishankar said. Beyond the government, in general, “ a lot of Americans” were astonished to hear the government’s perception of Canada, he said.

More generally, Mr Jaishankar linked the row over the death of Mr Nijjar to the larger issue of Canada permitting expressions of separatist sentiment on freedom of expression grounds, including in the context of a potential resolution of the current discord.

Mr Jaishankar drew attention to the larger context.

“No incident is isolated,” he said, adding, however, that he did not want to prejudge issues and was not taking absolutist positions.