'Difficult moment' in relationship: Canada's foreign minister says in 'close contact' with Jaishankar

It is a “difficult moment” in India-Canada relationship, but Ottawa is confident that both the countries will be able to get through this “difficult period,” said Foreign Minister of Canada Melanie Joly. The Canadian minister further said she in close contact with her Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and both the leaders have been talking about India-Canada relationship within the Indo-Pacific. During a virtual news conference Melanie held to discuss her participation in the recent G7 foreign ministers’ meeting that took place in Tokyo, she discussed Canada’s diplomatic standoff with India. Her remarks came amid strained ties between India and Canada. “When it comes to India, I have mentioned it many times… I am in close contact with my counterpart, S Jaishankar, and we know this is a difficult moment in a relationship that spanned decades, so, therefore, I am confident that we will be able to get through this difficult period, as we know that we have many interests also that we can work together in common,” Melanie said. “And, we are happy to see that there is clear language in the declaration (G7 declaration) reaffirming the importance of the Vienna Convention and the diplomatic immunities that are part of this,” she added. Talking on whether the disputes with India were settled, Melanie said: “Well, first and foremost, I have said it many times that Canadian diplomats had to leave India because their immunities were taken back…and I said that Canada would not retaliate…” The diplomatic tensions between India and Canada escalated after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of India’s link into the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Trudeau, during a debate in the Canadian Parliament, claimed his country’s national security officials had reasons to believe that “agents of the Indian government” carried out the killing of Nijjar, who also served as the president of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. India had outrightly rejected Trudeau’s claims, calling it ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’. Canada is yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Nijjar. Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada’s Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Amid a diplomatic standoff with Canada, India had halted its visa services till “further notice” in September. However, in October, India decided to resume visa services in Canada for four categories after a considered review of the security situation which “takes into account some recent Canadian measures in this regard”. Entry visa, Business visa, Medical visa and Conference visa are four categories in which India decided to resume visa services in Canada with effect from October 26. With inputs from agencies