NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister, who is on a S Jaishankar five-day visit to the US till September 30, said on Friday that India’s diplomatic row with Canada came up during discussions with his US counterpart Antony Blinken a day earlier.
On Thursday, Jaishankar had met Blinken and discussed a full range of issues including the key outcomes of India’s G20 presidency and the potential of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Blinken and Jaishankar “emphasised the continued importance of cooperation ahead of the upcoming 2+2 Dialogue, in particular in the areas of defence, space, and clean energy”, US Department of Space spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The 2+2 dialogue is a format of meeting between the two countries’ defence and foreign ministers. While the official statement issued by the US Department of State was mum on the controversy over the killing of a Canada-based terrorist, Jaishankar later confirmed that he discussed the issue with Blinken and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan during their meeting at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
The foreign minister said the US side shared its assessments on the whole situation and he explained at length about India’s concerns. “Hopefully we both came out of the meeting better informed,” he added while speaking at an event organised by Washington-based think tank the Hudson Institute on Friday.
Explaining India’s concerns, he said Indian diplomats are unsafe in Canada. “They are publicly intimidated. And that has actually compelled me to temporarily suspend even visa operations in Canada,” he added.