External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington and discussed ways to further the bilateral ties, amid the diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of a Khalistani separatist.

Good to be back here. And we, of course, had the prime minister here this summer. Thanks to the US for all the support to the G20 Summit,” S Jaishankar said while appearing before the media along with Blinken ahead of the meeting held at the State Department.

Blinken said he had “very good discussions” over the last few weeks including at the G20 and on the margins of the UN General Assembly session in New York. He said he was looking forward to his discussions with the Indian counterpart.

The two leaders did not take any questions from the media.

Although officials from both sides are tightlipped about the agenda of the meeting, the latest diplomatic crisis between two of America’s friends is expected to come up prominently during the talks.

“I don’t want to preview the conversations he (Antony Blinken) will have in that meeting (with S Jaishankar), but as we’ve made clear, we’ve raised this. We have engaged with our Indian counterparts on this and encouraged them to cooperate with the Canadian investigation, and we continue to encourage them to cooperate,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told earlier reporters while responding to questions on Wednesday.

While the meeting between the two top diplomats was scheduled much before the Canadian crisis broke out, the US has been urging India to cooperate in the Canadian investigation into the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia early this year.