EAM Jaishankar meets US Secretary of State Blinken amid diplomatic row between India & Canada 

The US State Department spokesman said, “Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar today in Washington, D.C. Secretary Blinken and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar discussed a full range of issues, including key outcomes of India’s G20 presidency, and the creation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and its potential to generate transparent, sustainable, and high-standard infrastructure investments.”

“The Secretary and the External Affairs Minister also emphasized the continued importance of cooperation ahead of the upcoming 2+2 Dialogue, in particular in the areas of defense, space, and clean energy,” the spokesperson said.

Jaishankar said on Friday, “Great to meet my friend US Secretary of State @SecBlinken at State Department today. A wide ranging discussion, following up on PM @narendramodi’s June visit. Also exchanged notes on global developments. Laid the groundwork of our 2+2 meeting very soon.”

Blinken said, “Thank you to Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar for hosting @POTUS earlier this month. We discussed India’s successful G20 presidency, creation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and the upcoming #USIndia 2+2 Dialogue in New Delhi.”

Ever since the diplomatic standoff began with Delhi rejecting Trudeau’s allegations of a “potential link” of Indian agents the killing of Nijjar, at least five senior US officials and diplomats – Secretary State Antony Blinken, NSA Jake Sullivan, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, USAmbassador to India Eric Garcetti and US Ambasaador to Canada David Cohen – have made public statements: all of them measured with a nuanced message for both sides. In short, asking Delhi to cooperate, but also asking Ottawa to not jump the gun.

Jaishankar on Thursday met with US NSA Jake Sullivan, and he tweeted about their meeting: “Began my Washington DC visit with a meeting with NSA @JakeSullivan46. Recognized the tremendous progress in our bilateral relationship this year and discussed taking it forward.”

In an explosive allegation last week, Canadian Prime Justin Trudeau told the parliament on September 18, “Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.”

India has rejected the allegations, calling these “absurd” and “motivated”. It has accused Ottawa of not acting against the Khalistan separatists in Canada, and not sharing any specific information on the killing of Nijjar. But at the same time, it has opened a window for cooperation, saying if any specific information is provided, New Delhi will be willing to look into it.