The News Freedom
New Delhi, November 4
External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, on Saturday said there is still room for diplomacy to address the diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the two sides need to find a balance in the matter, The Hindustan Times reported.
During a conversation with HT Editor-in-Chief R Sukumar at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, Jaishankar said that the problem faced by India is that activities such as violence and intimidation have been justified in the name of freedoms, which have also become a licence to propagate separatism and extremism, as per The Hindustan Times report.
Canada had withdrawn 41 diplomats from India amid a dispute over the murder of a Canada-based slain pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India slammed Canada’s remarks on withdrawing 41 diplomats, stressing that “India rejects any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms” on October 20.
The Hindustan Times reports that when asked how the two sides could find a solution to the row, Jaishankar said: “I feel that there is room for diplomacy here. I know that my counterpart in Canada has also expressed that same position. So, we have been in touch. My hope certainly would be that we find a way.”
“Sovereignty and sensitivity cannot be “one-way streets”, and India is willing to talk to Canada about its legitimate concerns, he said. “But it cannot be that a conversation is completely dismissive of my interests and my sensitivities, and I think we need balance,” he added, a report in The Hindustan Times said.