US Embassy "dismisses" US media reports claiming ties with India may deteriorate

New Delhi [India], October 5 : The US Embassy in India has dismissed the claims of a US media outlet that India-US ties may get worse amid the ongoing India-Canada diplomatic standoff saying that Ambassador Eric Garcetti is working hard to advance partnership of US with India.

A US-based politics focused newspaper, Politico, had reported that "US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has told his in-country team that, because of the diplomatic spat with Canada, relations between India and the US could get worse for a time".

Dismissing these reports, the US Embassy said that Ambassador Garcetti is working hard every day to "deepen the partnership between the people and governments of the United States and India".

"Garcetti also has said the US may need to reduce its contacts with Indian officials for an undefined period of time," the Politico report added.

The US Embassy added that as the personal engagement and public schedule of Ambassador demonstrates, that the US Mission to India and Garcetti are working "every day to advance the important, strategic, and consequential partnership we have with India".

Earlier also the US had said it is "deeply concerned" and is in close coordination with Canada on allegations of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau regarding the Indian government's involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Tuesday said that her country wants "private talks with India to resolve a diplomatic dispute" over the killing Nijjar, Reuters reported.

"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," Reuters quoted Joly as saying to reporters.

The statement by Joly comes after a report said India had asked Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats.

Meanwhile, the US State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Vedant Patel on October 3 urged the Indian government to cooperate with the Canadian investigation to ensure that "those responsible are brought to justice".

A day before Patel's remarks US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in response to a question related to Nijjar's killing in Canada said, "We remain in close coordination with our Canadian colleagues on this question,".

There is a strain in India-Canada relations following Justin Trudeau's allegations regarding the Indian government's 'potential role' in the fatal shooting of Nijjar.

Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.

Trudeau, during a debate in the Canadian Parliament, claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

However, India has out-rightly rejected the claims, calling it 'absurd' and 'motivated'.

Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The country has said it wants to "work constructively with India" regarding the allegations.

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