'Foreign interference a threat': Canadian envoy at UN amid standoff with India

Canada expressed concerns about foreign interference on its soil at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.

Canada's UN ambassador Bob Rae said that 'democracies are under threat due to foreign interference'. He added that the rules of state-to-state relations cannot be bent for political expediency.

'At the same time, we put great emphasis on the importance of equality. We also have to uphold the values of free and democratic societies. We cannot bend the rules of state-to-state relations for political expediency. Because we have seen and continue to see the extent to which democracies are under threat through various means of foreign interference,' Rae said.

His comments come amid a diplomatic standoff with India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said there are 'credible allegations' that India may be involved in the killing of a Nijjar, who is a Canadian citizen, on Canadian soil.

Bob Rae spoke a few hours after India's foreign minister S Jaishankar addressed the UNGA. In his speech, he said that respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs cannot be "exercises in cherry picking" as he asserted that the days when a few nations set the agenda and expected others to fall in line are over.