(Reuters) -India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised the issue of security at diplomatic establishments in Britain during a call with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak, Modi’s office in New Delhi said on Thursday.
New Delhi in recent weeks has been upset about protests and vandalism by Sikh separatists outside the Indian mission in London and elsewhere in the United States and Canada.
According to a statement from Modi’s office, the prime minister “raised the issue of security of Indian diplomatic establishments in the UK and called for strong action against anti-India elements by the UK Government.”
In response Sunak said the “UK considers the attack on Indian High Commission totally unacceptable and assured of security of the Indian Mission and its personnel,” the statement said.
The two leaders reviewed the progress on a number of bilateral issues as part of the India-UK Roadmap 2030.
“They expressed satisfaction at the recent high-level exchanges and growing cooperation, particularly in trade and economic sectors,” the statement said.
“They agreed on the need for early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement between the two countries.”
Bilateral ties became tense last month when protesters with banners supporting the so-called independent Sikh state of “Khalistan” staged a demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in London and took down an Indian flag from the building’s balcony to denounce recent police action against a pro-Khalistan Sikh preacher.
The demand for Khalistan has witnessed a revival in sections of the Sikh population in India and overseas.
On Wednesday, during a meeting in New Delhi between senior British and Indian home ministry officials, the Indian side “specifically conveyed its concerns on the misuse of UK’s asylum status by the Pro-Khalistani elements to aid and abet terrorist activities in India and requested better cooperation with UK,” an Indian government statement said.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru Rupam Jain in New Delhi, Editing by William Maclean and Mike Harrison)
