Soon after the reports surfaced that relationship between New Delhi
and Washington, DC will aggravate in view of the diplomatic face-off between Bharat
and Canada over Justin Trudeau’s allegations against the Narendra Modi Government,
US has strongly refuted the reports.
The report appeared in Washington-based publication Politico,
titled Why Biden’s mum on the India-Canada spat.
It quoted an official as saying that US Ambassador to India Eric
Garcetti had told his team that India-US ties “could get worse for a time”.
The report added that Garcetti had said US “may need to reduce its
contacts with Indian officials for an undefined period of time”.
A statement issued by the US Embassy in Bharat says, “The US
Embassy dismisses these reports. Ambassador Garcetti is working hard every day
to deepen the partnership between the people and governments of United States
and India. As his personal engagement and public schedule demonstrates,
Ambassador Garcetti and the US Mission to India are working every day to
advance the important, strategic, and consequential partnership we have with
India.”
New Delhi and Ottawa’s diplomatic ties turned sour ever since
Trudeau accused the Indian Government of a role in the killing of separatist terrorist
Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. Bharat has called the allegations “absurd” and “motivated”.
The Joe Biden administration has so far maintained that the
Canadian Government’s allegations need to be investigated.
The issue surfaced during a meeting between External Affairs
Minister Dr S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the
former’s US visit.
The issue was discussed when Dr S Jaishankar and National Security
Advisor Jake Sullivan met, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications
at the National Security Council in the White House, had said.
Earlier, The Washington Post had published that Canadian officials
had sought public condemnation of Nijjar’s murder from its allies, including US,
ahead of the G20 summit, but found them reluctant.
