By Shoukat Dar
LONDON: British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said on Wednesday they would review the security at the Indian High Commission in London after “unacceptable acts of violence” towards the staff of the mission.
India earlier summoned the top British diplomat in New Delhi to express its displeasure with the activities committed by “separatist and extremist forces” against the nation’s embassy in London.
According to reports from the BBC and Indian media, demonstrators holding “Khalistan” banners previously removed the Indian flag from the first-floor balcony of the building housing the high commission in reaction to recent police action against Sikhs, affiliated with Khalistan, in the Punjab state of India.
“Khalistan” refers to the autonomous Sikh state that certain parties want but do not exist physically.
According to the BBC, many people had gathered outside the Indian high commission building in London on Sunday, and windows were broken during the protest. Afterwards, India demanded an explanation for the absence of British security around the premises of the Indian high commission.
At least 100 police officers were on duty on both sides of the street outside the Indian high commission in London on Wednesday, according to The Hindu.
Cleverly said that a police investigation into the acts of violence was ongoing and that the nation would make the necessary adjustments to assure the employees of the Indian mission’s safety, just as it had done for Wednesday’s rallies.
Authorities in India’s northern state of Punjab also launched a major search on Saturday for Amritpal Singh, who has risen to prominence recently, demanding the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland.
On Monday, Indian authorities extended a mobile internet blackout across a state of about 30 million people as police hunted Amritpal Singh. The police said they arrested 114 people, but Singh’s whereabouts were unknown.
