December 2nd – Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau said at the event on November 30th local time that he was worried about the protests in India and supported Indian farmers who opposed the new agricultural law. In response, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on December 2 that such comments were groundless.
Trudeau said the Indian government’s response to the demonstration was worrying, according to the BBC and CTV Canada. Trudeau said in a video link: “We are all worried about our families and friends. We believe in the importance of dialogue, which is why we have directly contacted the Indian government in many ways to highlight our concerns. Let me remind you that Canada will always defend the right to peaceful protest.
Anurag Srivastava, spokesman of the Indian Foreign Ministry, responded on December 2 that “such comments are groundless, especially when it comes to the internal affairs of a country. It is better not to misinterpret the diplomatic dialogue for political purposes.”
Priyanka Chaturvedi, a member of Parliament of India and deputy leader of the right-wing regional political party, also tweeted, “India’s internal problems are not the subject of another national politics”.
In a commentary published on the New Delhi TV website, Chaturvedi said, “It is regrettable that Trudeau used India’s internal problems to consolidate his political position”. “In international relations, it is a courtesy not to comment on a country’s internal affairs,” Chaturvedi wrote in the article, “India has been extending that courtesy to other countries, and we hope other countries will do the same with India.”
According to the report, thousands of Indian farmers have gone to New Delhi, the capital of India, to protest against agricultural reform. Last week, protesters set up roadblocks along the New Delhi border and clashed with the police.
Photos and videos at the scene showed that police deployed tear gas and high-pressure water guns to prevent farmers from entering New Delhi.
Farmers are now driven to a designated site by the police, where they are expected to continue protesting against the reform. Two farmers’ associations in India said they expected 50,000 farmers to arrive in New Delhi from neighboring Haryana.
