September 28, 2023 09:19 am | Updated September 29, 2023 12:47 am IST – Washington
File image of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar meets with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken
| Photo Credit: ANI
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to fulfill U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Thursday, amid the diplomatic rumpus between India and Canada stirred over the killing of a Khalistani separatist.
Although officers from either side are tightlipped concerning the agenda of the assembly, the most recent diplomatic disaster between two of America’s associates, its conventional ally Canada and India, is predicted to return up prominently through the talks.
“I don’t want to preview the conversations he (Mr. Blinken) will have in that meeting (with Mr. Jaishankar), but as we’ve made clear, we’ve raised this; we have engaged with our Indian counterparts on this and encouraged them to cooperate with the Canadian investigation, and we continue to encourage them to cooperate,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller advised reporters.
He was responding to questions concerning the assembly between Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Blinken on the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department right here on Thursday afternoon (about midnight native India time).
The two leaders are anticipated to pose for footage forward of the assembly and aren’t anticipated to take any questions from the media.
While the assembly between the 2 prime diplomats was scheduled a lot earlier than the Canadian disaster broke out, the U.S. has been urging India to cooperate within the Canadian investigation into the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia early this 12 months.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has alleged that the Indian authorities was behind the killing of Nijjar, 45, outdoors a gurdwara in Surrey in British Columbia on June 18. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India has rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat transfer to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official. India has additionally requested Canada to crack down on terrorists and anti-India components working from its soil and suspended visa companies for Canadians.
Mr. Miller stated that the difficulty didn’t come up for dialogue in New York through the Quad ministerial that concerned overseas ministers of the US, India, Japan and Australia.
“It was a meeting of a number of countries and it did not come up in that meeting. But we have engaged with our Indian counterparts on this issue and urged them to fully cooperate with the Canadian investigation,” the State Department spokesperson stated.
Mr. Jaishankar arrived within the American capital from New York after attending the annual General Assembly conferences of the United Nations on Tuesday.
In addition to his assembly with Blinken, the External Affairs Minister is predicted to have a sequence of conferences with senior officers of the Biden administration, evaluate the progress made between the 2 nations after the historic State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June and speak about different regional and world points.
The Minister can be anticipated to interact with the diaspora, think-tank neighborhood and work together with leaders from the company sector.
Source: www.thehindu.com
