The statement issued by the US Department of State after the meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar made no mention of the killing of a Khalistani leaders in Canada’s Surrey in July. The alleged murder of the separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, has triggered a diplomatic row between India and Canada.

According to Reuters, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had earlier said he was sure US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would raise the murder of a Sikh separatist leader when he met his Indian counterpart on Thursday. However, the US statement had no mention of the issue.

The statement rather said, “Secretary of State Antony J Blinken met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar today in Washington, D.C. Secretary Blinken and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar discussed a full range of issues.”

The two leaders discussed “key outcomes of India’s G20 presidency, and the creation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and its potential to generate transparent, sustainable, and high-standard infrastructure investments”, the statement said. They also agreed to continue their cooperation in the areas of defence, space and clean energy ahead of the upcoming 2+2 Dialogue.

India will host the fifth edition of India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, Jaishankar announced on Thursday. Although he did not reveal the dates of the meeting, it is learnt that the ministerial dialogue would be held in the first half of November.

The tensions between India and Canada escalated after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian officials were behind the killing of  Nijjar on June 18. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India has rejected Canada’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.

Meanwhile, the US has time and again urged India to cooperate with Canadian probe into the alleged killing. In another statement on Friday, US State Department spokesperson reiterating the US’ stand on the India-Canada row and said, “We have consistently engaged with the Indian government…and have urged them to cooperate with Canada.”

Jaishankar visited Washington DC on a five-day official trip. This is the highest-level interaction between the two countries after the recent G-20 Summit in New Delhi. “Great to meet my friend US Secretary of State @SecBlinken at State Department today. A wide ranging discussion, following up on PM @narendramodi’s June visit. Also exchanged notes on global developments. Laid the groundwork of our 2+2 meeting very soon,” he posted on X on Friday.