“That is against the Geneva Convention, and it appears that the police and the security forces failed to ensure that he was made safe,” Opposition Tory MP Bob Blackman told the UK Parliament, with reference to the security breach involving Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in London this week.
“That is an affront to democracy, and an affront to our friends and allies in India. We need to make sure that does not happen again,” he said.
The Chair of the Backbench Business Committee was raising the matter in the House of Commons to call on the Labour Party government to ensure an appropriate response to the “Khalistani thugs” who targeted the Indian minister.
Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, responded: “I am very sorry to hear about what sounded like a serious attack on a visitor to this country from the Indian Parliament.
“That is unacceptable and not the way in which we want our visitors to be treated, and I will ensure that the Honorary Gentleman receives a full response from the Home Secretary [Yvetter Cooper].”
The incident involving pro-Khalistan extremists took place outside Chatham House in London during the week-long visit of the Indian minister, who has been holding a series of high-level dialogues with British government representatives.
While the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a strong rebuke over the “misuse of democratic freedom by such elements”, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was categorical in its strong condemnation of the incident.
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An FCDO spokesperson said: “While the UK upholds the right to peaceful protest, any attempts to intimidate, threaten, or disrupt public events are completely unacceptable.
"The Metropolitan Police acted swiftly to address the situation, and we remain fully committed to ensuring the security of all our diplomatic visitors, in line with our international obligations.”
Meanwhile, the Met Police also issued a statement to reiterate that the protester who ran in front of the minister’s stationary car waving a flag was “quickly intercepted by officers and moved out of the way”.
The MEA followed up its strongly worded statement with a demarche to the British Charge D'affaires in New Delhi, lodging its strong protest over the security breach.
Meanwhile, diaspora groups in the UK have been taking to social media to express their anger over yet another incident involving separatist pro-Khalistan extremists in the country.