S Jaishankar, Canada’s Mélanie Joly Meet amid Strained Ties at Munich Security Conference

Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Canadian counterpart Mélanie Joly met on Friday and held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The two leaders said their talks focused on the current state of India-Canada bilateral ties.

Both leaders also exchanged their views on global and regional developments. “Met my Canadian counterpart FM Mélanie Joly on the sidelines of the 2024 Munich Security Conference. Our conversation understandably focused on the present state of our bilateral ties. Was also useful to exchange views on the global situation,” Jaishankar said in a post on X.

Mélanie Joly in a post on X said that both leaders also discussed the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war. “At the 2024 Munich Security Conference, Dr S Jashainkar and I had a frank discussion on Canada-India relations and the current global issues, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine,” Joly said in her post.

Both foreign ministers met amid strained ties between India and Canada after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that India played a role in the death of Khalistani separatist-terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Nijjar in Surrey in June 2023. India denied all the allegations, calling them ‘baseless’, ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’.

Meanwhile, the 60th Munich Security Conference (MSC) got underway this Friday. The two-day conference is being held at its traditional venue, the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. The German Ambassador to the US, Christoph Heusgen is the chairman of this edition of the MSC.

S Jaishankar also met German counterpart Annalena Baerbock and reviewed preparations for the next edition of the India-Germany intergovernmental consultations. “So good to meet my German colleague FM Annalena Baerbock on 2024 Munich Security Conference sidelines. A wide-ranging conversation on global challenges and the pathway ahead. Appreciated her insights and assessments. Also reviewed preparations for the next meeting of our intergovernmental consultations,” Jaishankar said in a post on social media site X.

Jaishankar also met Argentinian counterpart, Diana Mondino and Greek minister of national defence Nikos Dendias. He also held a meeting with European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.