India-Canada row won’t hit military ties: Canadian Army vice-chief
Major General Peter Scott said the issue was political and not likely to affect the relationship between the armies of the two countries
The India-Canada diplomatic row will not impact the ongoing bilateral military engagement, and the matter must be resolved at the political level, Canada's deputy army chief, Major General Peter Scott, has said.
Major General Scott is leading a Canadian delegation at the Indo-Pacific Army Chiefs' Conference (IPACC) in New Delhi being attended by military delegations from over 30 countries.
"To the best of my knowledge at this time, that is not going to have an impact on us. We leave the matter at hand to the political level to try and resolve," he told PTI on Tuesday (September 26).
"We are happy to be here and we do not see the issue clouding matters at this point at all," he added.
Nijjar killing
Ties between New Delhi and Ottawa have come under severe strain after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blamed Indian agents for the June killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
India has rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated". Both countries have expelled a senior diplomat each over the case.
The Canadian Army official said: "This is an issue between both our countries at a political level. Our Prime Minister...rose at the House of Commons and made a statement requesting India's cooperation on the independent investigation currently ongoing.
"Between both of our armies, this is not affecting us. I spoke to your commander of the Army (General Manoj Pande). We both agreed that this is a political issue and has no interference on our relationship.
"As two armies, we look for opportunities among other 30 nations that are currently participating in this conference to find areas where we can cooperate, train together, conduct exercises and operations so that we all can contribute to ensuring peace, stability within the region," Major General Scott said.
Military ties
"The way we see right now is that we will continue to cooperate, discuss, and enjoy great forums like this where we can exchange ideas and find solutions to the difficulties facing a lot of the Indo-Pacific nations.”
The Indian Army is hosting the two-day conclave of Indo-Pacific army chiefs to evolve a common strategy to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
(With agency inputs)