Amid the ongoing India-Canada diplomatic crisis, Mr. Jaishankar, the Indian Foreign Minister, is visiting New York for the ongoing UNGA session representing India. On the sidelines of the event, the FM spoke at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York on Tuesday. He clarified India’s position about the alleged killing of the pro-Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar. It is not India’s ‘policy’ to engage in matters in the suggested way.

India has rejected the unsolicited accusations by the Canadian Prime Minister on the grounds that the Canadian authorities have yet to provide any substantial evidence supporting their claims about the incident. Mr. Jaishankar assured that the Indian government is ‘open to looking at it’ if provided with something relevant.

In response to a reporter’s question about the shared intelligence among the Five Eyes partners that prompted further allegations, he replied, “I’m not part of The Five Eyes; I’m certainly not part of the FBI. So I think you’re asking the wrong person.”

Adding to this, he drew attention to the risk of rising organized crime in Canada linked to secessionist forces, extremism, and violence and voiced concerns about Canada’s willingness to be tolerant of such activities for political gains.

-Anushka Upadhyay