PM Trudeau says 'fight' with India not something Canada wants right now; seeks to 'work constructively' with New Delhi

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has underlined that a fight with India was not something Canada wanted to be having right now but reiterated his allegations and said Ottawa wants to work constructively with New Delhi on this very serious matterAddressing the media on Friday Trudeau also alleged that India violated the Vienna Convention as over 40 Canadian diplomats were shifted from India after New Delhi threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunityThe ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeaus allegations in September of a potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020India rejected Trudeaus allegations as absurd and motivatedIn his fresh remarks Prime Minister Trudeau said that his government reached out to India to ask them to work together in getting to the bottom of this matterFrom the very beginning when we learned of credible allegations that agents of the Indian govt were involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil we reached out to India to ask them to work with us in getting to the bottom of this matter he said while addressing the mediaHe said Canada also reached out to its friends and allies like the United States and others to work on this really serious violation of international law and of the sovereignty of a democracy and added that this is something that we are taking very seriouslyWe will continue to work with all partners as law enforcement and investigative agencies continue to do their work Canada is a country that will always stand up for the rule of law because if might starts to make right again if bigger countries can violate international law without consequences then the whole world gets more dangerous for everyone he addedPrime Minister Trudeau said that Canada wants to work constructively with India on this very serious matterFrom the very beginning we shared the real allegations that we are deeply concerned about but we have reached out to the Indian govt and to partners around the world to get to the bottom of this to take it seriously Thats why we were so disappointed when India violated the Vienna Convention and arbitrarily revoked the diplomatic immunity of over 40 Canadian diplomats in India he saidHe reiterated that there were serious reasons to believe that agents of the government of India could have been involved in the killing of NijjarIndias response is to kick out a whole bunch of Canadian diplomats by violating their rights under the Vienna Convention That is of concern to countries around the world because if a given country can just decide that their diplomats of another country are no longer protected that makes international relations more dangerous and more serious he addedBut every step of the way we have tried to work constructively and positively with India and we will continue to and that means continuing to work with Indian government diplomats This is not a fight we want to be having right now but we will unequivocally always stand up for the rule of law he addedHis remarks came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New Delhi on Friday urged India to cooperate with an investigation by Canada into the killing of NijjarLast week Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said New Delhi conveyed to the US side its serious concerns over increasing activities of proKhalistani elements in CanadaInsofar as Canada is concerned we have been having very consistent conversations with all our friends and partners Our position on this matter has been enunciated and explained in full detail on multiple occasions Kwatra saidDays after Trudeaus allegations in September India temporarily suspended the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parityIndia resumed some visa services in Canada last month more than a month after they were suspendedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever