Vientiane (Laos)/Ottawa (Canada): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canada PM Justin Trudeau met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Laos, almost a year after his Canadian counterpart accused India of involvement in the death of a Canadian Khalistani separatist.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC News) said Trudeau described the meeting as a "brief exchange" when the two leaders met during the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Vientiane, Laos held on Thursday. "I emphasised that there is work that we need to do," the CBC News quoted Trudeau as saying.
"I won't go into details about what we talked about but what I've said many times is that the safety of Canadians and upholding the rule of law is one of the fundamental responsibilities of any Canadian government and that's what I'll stay focused on," Trudeau told a press conference at Vientiane.
'No substantive discussion'
However, sources claimed that there are "no substantive discussion between the two leaders in Vientiane". "India continues to expect that anti-India Khalistani activities will not be allowed to take place on Canadian soil and that firm action, which is lacking thus far, will be taken against those advocating violence, extremism and terrorism against India from Canadian territory," said sources.
"The growing nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well. India attaches importance to relations with Canada but these cannot be repaired unless the Canadian Government takes strict and verifiable action against those who actively pursue anti-India activities and have conspired to promote hate, disinformation, communal disharmony and violence in India as well as Canada," it added.
India-Canada ties
The ties between India and Canada were strained last year after Trudeau's allegations in September of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing outside a gurdwara in Surrey city on June 18, 2023.
India, which had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020, has strongly rejected Trudeau's allegations as "absurd" and "motivated."
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