Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar had met the Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly in an unpublicized meeting in Washington two weeks ago.
Both countries, India and Canada, have so far, not commented on the claims of a secret meeting, which would have been the highest-level meeting after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau went public with his bombshell allegations.
Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly had said last week that Ottawa had been in backroom talks with New Delhi. “We are in contact with the government of India. We take Canadian diplomats’ safety very seriously and we will continue to engage privately because we think diplomatic conversations are best when they remain private,” she said.
However, The Financial Times reported that a few days before Joly spoke of ongoing backroom talks, she had already met with the Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar.
“Several days earlier, Joly also held a secret meeting with India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar in Washington, said people familiar with the situation,” said the FT report.
When contacted, the Ministry of External Affairs has not commented on the news report that Jaishankar and Joly had an unannounced meeting. The Canadian High Commission in India declined to comment.
The Indian minister had been in the United States for over 10 days, with the first part of his visit taking place in New York – where he took part in the UN General Assembly plenary – and the second part in Washington from September 25 to 28.
