India steel secretary says closely watching Canada situation

Thu, September 28, 2023

FILE PHOTO: A man works inside a steel factory at Ludhiana in the northern Indian state of Punjab

By Neha Arora

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's steel ministry is monitoring the trade situation between New Delhi and Canada after a diplomatic row erupted when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week he suspected India of involvement in an assassination on Canadian soil.

"It is an evolving situation and we are closely watching," steel secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha told Reuters.

Earlier in the day, Sinha had told reporters that exports to Canada were marginal and have not been affected by the diplomatic row.

Last week, Reuters reported that India's JSW Steel Ltd was slowing down the process of buying a stake in the steelmaking coal unit of Canada's Teck Resources, in the first sign that the spat was affecting trade ties.

Trudeau said Canada was "actively pursuing credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June. India's foreign ministry called the allegations "absurd."

(Reporting by Neha Arora; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Hugh Lawson)