Canada fails to persuade G7 nations to back its claim

New York: Canada has failed to persuade its fellow G7 countries to refer to Ottawa’s allegations about the possible role of “agents” of the government of India in the killing of Sikh terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on its soil, in a statement, people familiar with the development said.

The G7 foreign ministers met in New York on the sidelines of the high-level UN General Assembly week late on Monday night local time. In a statement issued by Japan’s foreign minister, Kamikawa Yoko — Tokyo currently chairs the grouping — on Tuesday, the grouping reaffirmed its strong and critical position on Russia’s war in Ukraine, laid out its policy on competition and cooperation with China, and outlined actions to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. But it did not carry any critical reference to India.

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India has been working quietly with its other partners in the G7 and beyond to communicate its viewpoint on Canada’s allegations. Among the G7 members, India has extremely close and cordial bilateral relations with the US, Japan and France, while its ties with Germany, Italy and United Kingdom have improved in recent years.

Given Canada’s status as an ally and a close neighbour, the US, which leads the G7 bloc, has taken what is seen as a measured and calibrated position on the issue. US national security council spokesperson John Kirby said that Washington DC supports Canada’s “efforts to investigate” what he termed as “these serious allegations”. He also added that President Joe Biden is mindful of these allegations, and called for a “fully transparent comprehensive investigation”, and encouraged India to cooperate with it.

Responding to a story in Washington Post which appeared to suggest that the administration had been soft in taking up Canada’s allegations, another NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson tweeted, “Reports that we rebuffed Canada in any way on this are flatly false. We are coordinating and consulting with Canada closely on this issue. This is a serious matter and we support Canada’s ongoing law enforcement efforts. We are also engaging the Indian government.”

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At the same time, it is understood that US is keen not to see any escalation of tensions between its closely treaty ally (Canada), and its strategic partner (India), a relationship that administration officials have described as the most consequential relationship for the US in this century.

In a week where the world has congregated in New York, Canada’s allegations have threatened to cast a shadow during the high-level week in UN. But India, confident that Canada has been irresponsible in making such grave allegations in public and secure in the denial issued by the ministry of external affairs, have said that the issue has not come up in their diplomatic engagements.

With foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra cancelling his visit to New York — he was supposed to fill in for external affairs minister S Jaishankar till the minister arrived on September 22 after attending the special session of Parliament — Sanjay Verma, secretary (west), and Ruchira Kamboj, India’s permanent representative to the UN, are leading India’s bilateral engagements on the sidelines of the UNGA.

Jaishankar will arrive in time for the Quad foreign ministers’ meet on Friday; he then has a packed bilateral calendar where he is expected to meet leaders from developed countries as well as the global south; and he will deliver India’s national statement in the UNGA on September 26. After addressing the Council of Foreign Relations in New York, Jaishankar will head to Washington DC where he will meet top officials from both the NSC and the State Department, besides interacting with businesses on critical technologies and the think tank community. In his engagements in both New York and DC, India will have an opportunity to respond to what it has termed as Canada’s “absurd” allegations.

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