London: As diplomatic relations between India and Canada nosedived over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Britain said on Tuesday that the development won’t have a bearing on its ongoing trade pact talks with India.
According to reports, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson confirmed that UK’s negotiations on the free trade agreement (FTA) with India will continue.
The spokesperson was responding to queries on Canada’s allegations that India had a role in the killing of Nijjar, who was killed in June in British Columbia.
India has dismissed these allegations as absurd and motivated.
Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sunak had met during the G20 summit in Delhi, and discussed the FTA negotiations.
“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. 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,” the spokesperson said as per reports.
Both India and UK recently held the 12th round of talks over the FTA. During their talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Modi and Sunak had discussed innovation and science along with ways to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
