ANI Photo/MATV, London
A brazen protest by Khalistan supporters at High Commission of India in London, saw a protestor climbing the mission’s balcony and pulled down the Indian flag.
Responding strongly to the breach of security at the Indian mission, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned British Deputy High Commissioner Christina Scott in New Delhi to register its protest.
In a statement, the MEA said “an explanation was demanded for the complete absence of British security” that let “separatist and extremist element” violate the limits of the Indian mission and vandalise the national flag.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted
India lodges strong protest with UK.
Press Release ➡️ https://t.co/Apz9tgy1Ki pic.twitter.com/PV2VyUw1Lt
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) March 19, 2023
An explanation was demanded for the complete absence of British security that allowed these elements to enter the High Commission premises. She was reminded in this regard of the basic obligations of the UK Government under the Vienna Convention.
“India finds unacceptable the indifference of the UK Government to the security of Indian diplomatic premises and personnel in the UK,” the MEA press release said.
Demanding “immediate steps” from the UK Government, the official press release from the MEA said, “It is expected that the UK Government would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in today’s incident, and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”
Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor told ANI outside parliament, It’s utterly shocking that this was allowed to happen. The real problem is not inside the High Commission but on the premises outside which is the responsibility of the local authorities, in this case the British Authorities, to protect. If the British Police are completely derelict in their duty and they allow this nonsense to happen, this is a major insult that we can’t tolerate.
