Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 22, 2022.
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 22, 2022. Reuters / PATRICK DOYLE

KEY POINTS

  • India's Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar visited Washington from Sept. 27 to 30
  • Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met Jaishankar during the trip, Financial Times reported
  • The meeting reportedly took place in light of the India-Canada row over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

India's foreign minister S Jaishankar and his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly reportedly had a secret meeting during the former's trip to the U.S. last month.

After a five-day trip to New York, Jaishankar had a "secret meeting" with Joly when he visited Washington from Sept. 27 to 30, Financial Times reported, citing sources.

The meeting reportedly took place in light of the India-Canada row over the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Ties between the two countries nosedived after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were "credible allegations" linking India to Nijjar's killing in June.

New Delhi rejected the allegations as "absurd." Jaishankar said during his U.S. trip that India was open to looking at any information Canada provides related to Nijjar's killing.

International Business Times tried to reach out to Canada's High Commission in New Delhi and the spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs about the secret meeting in Washington but did not receive a response.

Earlier this month, New Delhi reportedly asked Canada to withdraw 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country.

Although there was no official statement from either side on the number of diplomats that may be moved from the South Asian country, India's external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the reduction of Canadian diplomats was to achieve parity.

"Given the much higher presence of diplomats or diplomatic presence here and their continued interference in our internal matters, we have sought parity in our respective diplomatic presence. Discussions are ongoing on the modalities of achieving this," Bagchi told reporters last week.

"It's up to the Canadian side, who they choose to staff the High Commission with... our concerns are related to ensuring parity in diplomatic presence," he added.

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It was previously reported that India had given Canada a deadline of Oct. 10 to repatriate its diplomats, and those staying in the country beyond that would risk having their diplomatic immunity revoked.

A report from Canadian news outlet CTV News said a majority of diplomats working outside of New Delhi were evacuated. It added they were moved to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.

However, Financial Times' report this week cited a source saying that Ottawa did not withdraw its diplomats ahead of the deadline.

India Canada