- Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Recently, Indian diplomats in the UK, including high commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and consul general in Birmingham Dr Shashank Vikram, have been targeted by Khalistan extremists.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S national security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Thursday (7) raised the issue of extremist elements threatening officials at the Indian high commission in the UK with his British counterpart Tim Barrow who is currently in India for India-UK Strategic Dialogue at the Indian NSA’s invitation.
The two NSAs held one-on-one talks that was followed by delegation-level dialogue.
“The NSA (national security advisor) minced no words and asked the UK government to take strong public action against these elements such as deportation or legal prosecution,” a senior Indian government official said, NDTV reported.
Recently, Indian diplomats in the UK, including high commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and consul general in Birmingham Dr Shashank Vikram, have been targeted by Khalistan extremists.
A poster threatening the Indian diplomats and promoting protests by pro-Khalistan outfits outside the Indian mission in London on July 8, the same day a similar rally was scheduled to be held in Canada, surfaced online.
It happened days after a controversial poster promoting the Khalistan event in Canada and accusing two top diplomats in Canada for the murder of Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar triggered a massive outrage and the Indian consulate general in San Francisco was allegedly set on fire by Khalistan supporters.
UK foreign secretary James Cleverly on Thursday (6) condemned the attacks on the Indian mission in London and said they were “completely unacceptable”.
Speaking about the Doval-Barrow meeting, the Indian official said New Delhi has been concerned about the safety of its diplomats and raised the issue with the UK authorities. “Today, the NSA raised this issue very firmly,” the official added.
The official added that both sides agreed to address issues that are driving violent extremism in their respective countries.
Last month, Avtar Singh Khanda, the UK-based chief of Khalistan Liberation Force and alleged handler of Khalistan separatist Amritpal Singh, died in a Birmingham hospital. A lot of Khalistan sympathisers accused India over the death.
During their meeting that lasted for more than two hours, Doval and Barrow agreed to work closely on counter terror, counter terror financing, use of the internet for terror, drug trafficking and counter radicalisation.
(With agency inputs)
