ANI
19 Sep 2023, 22:37 GMT+10
London [UK], September 19 (ANI): Despite Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations on India for its involvement in the death of a Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Britain would continue to have trade talks with India, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
"Work on the trade negotiations will continue as before. The Canadian authorities will now conduct their work and I'm not going to preempt them," the spokesperson told the reporters.
The official reaffirmed that Canada and Britain were in contact with the "serious allegations," but insisted that it would not affect negotiations for a trade agreement with India, Reuters reported.
With the ongoing trade negotiations with India, the spokesperson further added by saying, "When we have concerns about countries we are negotiating trade deals with, we will raise them directly with the government concerned. But with regards to the current negotiations with India, these are negotiations about a trade deal, and we're not looking to conflate them with other issues," Reuters reported.
India and the UK are notably the two countries that are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement, talks for which had begun in 2022. The 12th round of negotiations for the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took place from August 8 to 31 this year.
During his recent visit to India for the G20 Summit, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK and India are two nations with one ambition, an ambition rooted in shared values, the connection between people.
"Two nations, one ambition. An ambition rooted in our shared values, the connection between our people and - of course - our passion for cricket," the UK PM had posted on social media platform X.
The two leaders also had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in India, which followed their meeting held on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in May this year in which they had discussed the India-UK free trade agreement, innovation, and science along with ways to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Notably, India rejected the allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier today, regarding the Indian government's involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations 'absurd 'and 'motivated'.
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," said the MEA in an official statement."Allegations of the Indian government's "involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated" the release added.
The Indian response came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the allegations against the Indian government on Monday (September 18) of being behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Toronto Telegraph news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Toronto Telegraph.
More InformationISLAMABAD, Pakistan - According to The News, the federal government is considering selling its stake in the Reko Diq project ...
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - U.S. stocks tumbled on Tuesday as interest rates on 10 and 30-year Treasury yields approached ...
DUBLIN, Ireland: The chief medical officer has issued a stark warning regarding the alarming levels of cannabis consumption in Ireland, ...
OAKLAND, California: As their current contract expires and their unions prepare to strike, Kaiser Permanente workers' representatives said, on September ...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Inflation in the eurozone hit a two-year low in September, signaling that the European Central Bank's (ECB) strategy ...
BEIJING, China: Official statistics released on the weekend showed that in September, Chinese factory activity expanded for the first time ...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - According to The News, the federal government is considering selling its stake in the Reko Diq project ...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt announced this week that it would build a $5.2 billion gigafactory in the ...
(Photo credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports) Royce Lewis homered in each of his first two career postseason at-bats and the ...
(Photo credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports) More than 61,000 fans bought tickets to see Lionel Messi play in Chicago on ...
(Photo credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports) MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins finally snapped their 18-game playoff drought. Now, the Twins ...
(Photo credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports) MINNEAPOLIS -- Before he stepped to the plate for his first postseason at-bat, Minnesota ...