UK soon to feel Modi govt heat over ‘Tricolour’ incident | Latest News India

The lowering of the national flag at the Indian High Commission by Khalistan separatists on Sunday and the British system’s “indifference” to the security of diplomatic premises were seen as an “action-compelling event” by the Modi government and will have repercussions well beyond the diplomatic protest of New out of Delhi.

While the Modi government wants the UK government to at least take action against the perpetrators, there are serious discussions at the highest levels of government about how the UK government can become more responsive and accountable to Indian security concerns in the UK.

The man behind Sunday’s protest has been identified as UK-based asylum seeker Avtar Singh Khanda, whose father Kulwant Singh Khukrana was a terrorist with the Khalistan Liberation Force and provides funds through Gurmit Singh Bukanwala. It was Khanda who organized the radical Sikh students in Britain for the Sunday protest.

Also read: Anger at Khalistan supporters tearing down Tricolor at mission in London

Although the Modi government has pointed to the soft stance of the British system including intelligence information towards anti-Indian Khalistan separatists since the orchestrated anti-CAA Kashmir protests outside the Indian HC in 2019, the British government has reacted little decisively and is in many ways fueling dissatisfaction with India and the Narendra Modi government in particular. This comes after the British government-funded BBC regurgitated a document targeting PM Modi over the Gujarat riots in 2002, despite the Supreme Court giving the former Gujarat CM a clean slate.

While the Modi government is silent on what measures will be taken after the latest tightening, the government read the riot act to the British diplomat who was called to the Foreign Office last night. A similarly strong protest is being launched today by the Indian HC in London with a blunt message to residents of White Hall. What irks the Modi government is the lack of security for the Indian embassy and its staff, despite the threat posed by the tiny UK-based Sikh extremists.

Also read: Indian Mission responds to Khalistani elements with “bigger” tricolor

The Modi government is also watching the Rishi Sunak government react to another anti-India protest planned by a banned “Sikhs For Justice” group in the UK on March 22. Led by extremist-designate Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, the SFJ has been allowed to thrive, raising funds outside of the British Gurudwaras and amassing property despite pinpoint evidence from Indian intelligence to their British counterparts.

The fact is that the Modi government had alerted the British system, including MI-5, to Sunday’s planned extremist Sikh protest and the show’s leader, who was proposing Sikh students with the lure of political asylum and some financial benefits brought the Indian Embassy. It appears that the British system, not the current political leadership, is empathetic to Sikh separatist groups and completely indifferent to Indian security interests.

While the British High Commission in India and its diplomats receive full security and protection from the Modi government, the British government lacks the same reciprocity to the point of indifference. Given the anger within the Modi government over Sunday’s “Tricolor” incident, the British government will soon realize that India means business and will do whatever it takes to protect its national security interests.