US Rejects Report Claiming India-Canada Row May Hit Delhi-Washington Ties

The US has strongly denied reports that the diplomatic face-off between India and Canada over Justin Trudeau's allegations against the Narendra Modi government will worsen ties between New Delhi and Washington, DC.

The US embassy issued the denial after a report in Washington-based publication Politico, titled 'Why Biden's mum on the India-Canada spat'. The report quoted an official as saying that US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti had told his team that India-US ties "could get worse for a time". It added that Garcetti had said the US "may need to reduce its contacts with Indian officials for an undefined period of time".

A statement issued by the US Embassy in India says, "The U.S. Embassy dismisses these reports. Ambassador Garcetti is working hard every day to deepen the partnership between the people and governments of the United States and India. As his personal engagement and public schedule demonstrates, Ambassador Garcetti and the U.S. Mission to India are working every day to advance the important, strategic, and consequential partnership we have with India."

New Delhi and Ottawa are locked in a diplomatic face-off ever since Trudeau accused the Indian government of a role in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. India has called the allegations "absurd" and "motivated".

The Joe Biden administration has so far maintained that the Canadian government's allegations need to be probed.

The matter had come up during a meeting between External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the former's trip to the US. 

The issue was also discussed when Dr S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, had said.

"We'll certainly leave it to those two countries to talk about their bilateral relationship. We've been clear, these allegations are serious, they need to be fully investigated and of course, as we've said before, we urge India to participate actively in that investigation," Kirby had said.

Earlier, The Washington Post had reported that Canadian officials had sought public condemnation of Nijjar's murder from its allies, including the US, ahead of the G20 summit, but found them reluctant.