Canadian PM Trudeau and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Credit: PTI File Photo
Offering an olive branch to the Narendra Modi-led government, Canada recently said that the territorial integrity of India must be respected.
The statement came amid relations between the two nations turning sour after Canada's PM Justin Trudeau had last year made allegations of the Indian government's "potential" involvement in the killing of Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was a Canadian citizen.
"Canada's policy is very clear that India's territorial integrity must be respected. There's one India, and that's been made very clear," Canada's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs David Morrison said before the foreign interference commission in Ottawa, NDTV reported.
Morrison made the statement while clarifying its stand on the issue of Khalistanis in the country.
Speaking on the activities of Khalistan supporters in Canada, the minister said that it was "awful but lawful".
"There are things that many of us want not to see but that are protected under Freedom of Speech rights," the publication quoted him as saying.
On June 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau held a brief conversation on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy's Apulia region.
The interaction came against the backdrop of severe strain in India-Canada ties.
New Delhi, when the row broke out, had rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".
India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.
India has repeatedly conveyed its "deep concerns" to Canada and New Delhi expects Ottawa to take strong action against those elements.
Nijjar, who was declared a terrorist by India, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in British Columbia on June 18 last year. The murder is being probed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
(With PTI inputs)