New Delhi: The ongoing diplomatic row between New Delhi and Ottawa is more “political” in nature and will have no bearing on the defence cooperation between the two countries, Canada’s Deputy Army Chief Major General Peter Scott said Tuesday.
Scott was speaking at the 13th Indo-Pacific Army Chiefs’ Conference (IPACC) being held in the national capital. The three-day conference — which will see the participation of army chiefs from over 30 Indo-Pacific nations — will conclude Wednesday.
Referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in Parliament earlier this month over the killing of separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Scott said Canada wanted India’s cooperation in the ongoing investigation. “But between both our nations — both of our armies — this isn’t affecting us,” he said.
Earlier this month, Trudeau said his government had shared with India evidence of “credible allegations” about the “potential link” between Indian agents and the 18 June killing of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India has rejected Trudeau’s remarks as “absurd” and “motivated”, but tensions with Canada have been on the rise since, with both countries expelling each other’s diplomats. Last week, as the row mounted, India also suspended visa services to Canadians.
In his remarks at the IPACC, Scott acknowledged the prevailing tensions between his country and India. But he also said that he had spoken to India’s Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Manoj Pande, and they both agreed that the matter should be left to the “political level to be tried and be resolved”.
When ThePrint asked if Canada had any apprehensions about sending a delegation to India in light of the row, Scott said the intention from the start was to participate in the IPACC so that his country could hold discussions with not only India but with all participating countries.
“(The aim was) to find and discuss issues of common interest and to find areas where our armies can specifically continue to contribute to peace and security in the area — whether that is through exercises, exchanging of officers or soldiers or participating in operations or conducting discussions in fora like this one,” he told ThePrint.
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‘Exchanging idea and finding like-minded solutions’
Speaking at the conference, Maj Gen Scott said Canadian and Indian armies would continue to cooperate, discuss and “enjoy great forums like this where we can exchange ideas and find like-minded solutions to the difficulties facing a lot of the Indo-Pacific nations”.
He also said he had spoken to the Indian Army chief Gen. Manoj Pande and that both armies aim to look for opportunities to work with other nations in the conference and find areas where they can cooperate, train together and conduct exercises and operations.
“This can contribute to ensuring peace and stability within the region,” he said. “We (Canada) will look for opportunities with other like-minded nations that are here to continue to strive to make sure that this region remains open, safe and secure and prosperous so that all nations of the Indo-Pacific region can maintain their sovereignty and enjoy a peaceful way of life.”
India, he said, can contribute to the Indo-Pacific by hosting such conferences and “bringing all these nations together so that we can discuss like-minded issues to ensure rules-based interest order is maintained within the region by all nations”.
He told ThePrint later that platforms like the IPACC “provide opportunities for leaders to come together and talk about difficult issues but also find areas of cooperation”.
Meanwhile, a member of the Canadian Army’s delegation that ThePrint spoke to said that they had so far had a “gracious” welcome and that the ongoing diplomatic issues had not caused any hassles.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)