New Delhi: Amidst the growing diplomatic crisis between India and Canada, foreign secretary Vikram Misri will brief the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs on various aspects of New Delhi’s relations with Ottawa on November 6.
Misri will also brief the panel about India’s ties with China on the same day.
“Briefing by Foreign Secretary on issues in India’s foreign relations – India-Canada & India-China,” the notice for the meeting said.
The panel is led by Congress lawmaker and former MoS external affairs Shashi Tharoor. According to two officials, this would be the first exclusive briefing on India-Canada relations in the recent past. The issue assumes importance amid the worsening bilateral relations between New Delhi and Ottawa over a host of issues that have triggered a full-blown crisis between the two G20 member nations.
On Saturday, India categorically dismissed as “absurd and baseless” a senior Canadian official’s allegation that Union home minister Amit Shah was connected to activities targeting pro-Khalistan elements on Canadian soil and maintained that such actions will have “serious consequences” for bilateral ties.
The external affairs panel has vocal members of the Opposition including the Congress’s Deepender Hooda and Pratini Shinde, the CPI-M’s John Brittas, Trinamool’s Sagarika Ghosh, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant.
According to a senior Opposition leader “We want to go into the details of the issues and would also want to know what lies in the future of our ties with Canada and if there is any possible impact on our relations with the US.”
Another leader indicated that the Opposition is likely to throw its weight behind the government, as it happens in issues of foreign relations, but can ask “a few questions to Misri”.
Officials said that Misri is also expected to deliberate on the recent progress in India-China relations.
