New Delhi: A scheduled briefing by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to a parliamentary panel headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on India's volatile ties with Canada and China did not take place on Wednesday and is likely to be taken up later, news agency PTI reported quoting its sources.
They said the briefing by the External Affairs Ministry delegation on its demands for grants for the year 2024-25 went on for a long time and it was decided that the briefing on these issues will be done at a later meeting.
The ministry officials also had some other engagement, an MP said, noting that the panel's meeting coincided with the US presidential election result in which Donald Trump stormed back to power.
India-Canada issues
India's ties with Canada have nosedived over the North American country's allegation of the Indian government's involvement in the killing of a Khalistani activist, a charge rejected by New Delhi.
India has accused Canada of providing safe haven to the separatists. The relations further nosedived after the Indian High Commissioner to Canada and other diplomats were "persons of interest" into killing Nijjar.
In its hard-hitting statement, India said Prime Minister Trudeau's hostility to India has long been in evidence and his government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists "to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada".
India's relations with China have also been frosty following the Ladakh standoff but have recently seen some thaw after the two countries reached an agreement on the issue.
Meeting possible after state elections
Some MPs said the next meeting should take place after the state elections and the by-elections to allow maximum participation as some of them may be busy with campaigns. The results of the polls are scheduled for November 23.
Misri had in the earlier meeting of the parliamentary committee on external affairs briefed its members on the "Israel-Palestine Conflict".
(With inputs from agency)
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