USISPF chief calls Trudeau’s allegations against India ‘unfortunate’
The Hindu
USISPF CEO Mukesh Aghi said it was "unfortunate" that Canadian PM Trudeau's allegations against India were brought without evidence. India rejected the charges and voiced concern over safety of Indian diplomats and premises in Canada. Aghi believes diplomatic row will have short-term impact on India-U.S. ties, but long-term relationship will continue to grow deeper and broader. He attributed Trudeau's allegations to domestic politics and his dependence on a Sikh-dominated party. Aghi said India must protect its interests, but also be a responsible power. He believes China is inflaming the situation to derail India-U.S. ties, but both countries must remain mature to ensure relationship doesn't get derailed.
U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) president and CEO Mukesh Aghi on Friday said it was “unfortunate” that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations against India in his parliament last month were brought “without concrete evidence”.
Tensions flared between the two nations after Mr. Trudeau's allegation linking Indian agents to the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
India strongly rejected the charges and also voiced its concern over the safety of Indian diplomats and India's diplomatic premises in Canada.
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“It’s unfortunate that an important issue was brought without any concrete evidence into the parliament and from there the relationship between the two nations has gone down,” Mr. Aghi told PTI in an interview.
“The relationship goes way back between the two countries. You have a large trade, over 2,30,000 Indian students studying there. Canada has invested almost $55 billion in India and it's unfortunate that a country’s prime minister goes into a parliament and says “credible allegation” and not being able to come out with evidence to show that those allegations are credible,” he said.
“I think mature minds have to take over and calm the situation as this has an impact, because Canada is going to leverage the United States to put pressure on India,” Mr. Aghi said.
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