External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday slammed Canada for its "double standards," as relations between New Delhi and Ottawa continue to deteriorate following the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada last year.
"Double standards is a very mild word for it," Jaishankar said while explaining how Canada treats other diplomats and the "licence" their diplomats try to use while in India.
Speaking at the NDTV World summit, Jaishankar said, "So apparently, the licence that they give themselves is totally different from the kind of restrictions that they impose on diplomats in Canada. When we tell them you have people openly threatening leaders of India, diplomats of India, their answer is freedom of speech," Jaishankar added.
"If you threaten the Indian high commissioner, he is supposed to accept it as freedom of speech, but if an Indian journalist says the Canadian high commissioner walked out of the South Block looking very grumpy, it is apparently foreign interference," ANI quoted Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar's attacks have come at a time when the diplomatic tensions between India and Canada are at an all-time high. Last week, New Delhi expelled Canadian Charge d'Affaires Stewart Wheeler and five other diplomats following Ottawa's fresh allegations of the Indian government's involvement in Nijjar's killing in British Columbia.
India also recalled its high commissioner and five more diplomats, who are on their way back to India.
The Canadian government had said the Indian diplomats were expelled from the country.
(With inputs from PTI)