 "S Jaishankar")
Member states of the United Nations (UN) should not allow "political convenience" to determine responses to terrorism, extremism and violence, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA) earlier this week.
Jaishankar also said respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs cannot be "exercises in cherry picking" and asserted that the days when a few nations set the agenda and expected others to fall in line are over.
"We must never again allow an injustice like vaccine apartheid to recur. Climate action, too cannot continue to witness an evasion of historical responsibilities. The power of markets should not be utilised to steer food and energy from the needy to the wealthy," he said.
"Nor must we countenance that political convenience determines responses to terrorism, extremism and violence. Similarly, respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs cannot be exercised in cherry-picking," the minister said.
His remarks appear to be directed at Canada whose Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently alleged the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of a Khalistani extremist leader on his country's soil on June 18 in British Columbia, a charge angrily rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated".
India has described Trudeau's allegations as "politically motivated" and that there is a "degree of prejudice". Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
'India will take action if Canada provides specific information'
Later, speaking at the "Discussion at Council on Foreign Relations" in New York, Jaishankar said that the Indian side would take action if the Canadian side provided specific information about Nijjar's killing.
"We told the Canadians that this is not the government of India's policy. Secondly, we said if you have something specific and if you have something relevant, let us know. We are open to looking at it...The picture is not complete without the context in a way," he said.
He added, "In the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organised crime, relating to the secessionist forces, organised crime, violence and extremism. They're all very, very deeply mixed up. So in fact, we have been talking about specifics and information."
He further stressed that the Indian government has provided the Canadian side with much information about the crime, and there has been a large number of extradition requests.
"We have given them a lot of information about organised crime and leadership, which operates out of Canada. There are a large number of extradition requests. There are terrorist leaders, who have been identified," he added.
The EAM raised concern over these incidents of threats to Indian diplomats and attacks on Indian consulates, stating that these are "very permissive" because of political reasons.
"Our concern is that it's really been very permissive because of political reasons. So we have a situation where our diplomats are threatened, our consulates have been attacked...A lot of this is often justified, as saying that's how democracies work. If somebody gives me something specific, it doesn't have to be restricted to Canada. But if there's any incident which is an issue and somebody gives me something specific, as a government, I would look at it," Jaishankar further said.
'Not a part of Five Eyes Alliance'
Jaishankar also said that he is not a part of the intelligence group of the Five Eyes countries when asked for comment on the reported intelligence sharing within the bloc on Nijjar's killing.
He was asked about the reports citing the role of the Five Eyes group regarding the intelligence behind the killing of Nijjar and reports of the FBI warning US Sikh leaders about "credible threats" to them.
Responding to the question, Jaishankar said, "I am not part of The Five Eyes, I am certainly not part of the FBI. So I think you are asking the wrong person".
The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US and the UK.
Earlier, David Cohen, the US Ambassador to Canada, said that it was "shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners" that led the Trudeau administration to make the claim of a potential link between "agents" of the Indian government and the killing of Nijjar.
'Efforts underway on bringing back normalcy in Manipur'
Jaishankar also said that efforts are underway to find a way by which a sense of normalcy returns in Manipur and said that one aspect of the problem has been the "destabilising impact" of migrants, combined with some other tensions with a long history.
"If you ask me what is happening today in Manipur...One part of the problem in Manipur has been the destabilising impact of migrants who have come, that's one aspect of it. There are also tensions with a long history that precedes that," he said.
He further said that the state government and the centre must find a way through which normalcy returns to the state.
'Indian-China relations abnormal since Galwan clash'
Jaishankar said that relations between India and China have been in an "abnormal state" since the 2020 Galwan clash, and it is a "possibly longer than medium-term issue".
If the two biggest countries of the world have that degree of tension between them, "it has consequences for everybody else", he said.
"You know, one of the pleasures of dealing with China is that they never quite tell you why they do things. So you often end up trying to figure it out. And it's always, there's a certain ambiguity out there," Jaishankar said.
"It is very hard to try to be normal with a country which has broken agreements and which has done what it has done. So if you look at the last three years, it's a very abnormal state," the minister added.
(With agency inputs)
