The United Kingdom (UK) has committed nearly $120,000 to bolster British authorities’ capabilities to “tackle Pro-Khalistan extremism”, stated New Delhi-located British High Commission in a statement on Friday.
The announcement came during the ongoing official visit of Tom Tugendhat, UK’s Minister of State for Security, to India.
Tugendhat met Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday as well as Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Friday.
The British HC said that Jaishankar and Tugendhat reviewed the outcomes of the Joint Extremism Task Force, which was announced in April after the attack on the Indian High Commission in March by pro-Khalistan supporters.
India’s Concerns on Pro-Khalistan Extremism in UK
India took a strong exception to the vandalizing of its High Commission in London in March, summoning the top most British diplomat in New Delhi merely hours after the incident.
The Sikh radical supporters at the time also attacked Indian officials at the High Commission.
The attack is currently under investigation by New Delhi’s premier National Investigation Agency (NIA).
In recent months, pro-Khalistan demonstrations have also taken place at Indian missions in Australia, Canada, and the US, in the wake of the Indian police crackdown against radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh.
Concerns over pro-Khalistan activity in the Western nations have also been raised by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his discussion with counterparts from Australia and UK in the last few months.