Canada's murder allegation puts Penny Wong in a New Delhi dilemma
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was forced to confront uncomfortable questions about Australia's relationship with India on Tuesday.
Australian governments across the political spectrum have preferred to focus on India’s undeniable economic potential.
However, as Canberra strengthens its relationship with New Delhi, it faces mounting pressure to address uncomfortable questions about India’s direction under Prime Minister Narendra Modi — questions that other close allies have been willing to ask publicly.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong navigated a delicate balancing act in Parliament House as she hosted her Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, amid an escalating diplomatic row between Modi’s government and Canada.
Flanked by Australian and Indian flags at a joint press conference on Tuesday, Capital Brief asked Wong whether she trusted Canada’s evidence behind its accusation that Modi’s government was involved in the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, on Canadian soil.
