After the UK and the United States, India called up the Canadian High Commissioner in Delhi to lodge protests over leeway to Khalistani proponents in the country.
The High Commissioner of Canada was summoned on March 25 to convey our strong concern about the actions of separatist and extremist elements against our diplomatic Mission and Consulates in Canada this week said the Ministry of External Affairs in a Press Release.
The Government of India sought an explanation on how such elements were allowed, in the presence of police, to breach the security of our diplomatic Mission and Consulates.
The Government of Canada was reminded of its obligations under the Vienna Convention, and asked to arrest and prosecute the individuals who have already been identified as being involved in such acts.
It is expected that the Canadian Government will take all steps which are required to ensure the safety of our diplomats and security of our diplomatic premises so that they are able to fulfil their normal diplomatic functions as per the Ministry of External Affairs Press Release.
Background
There is a ballooning challenge to Indian missions posed by the pro Khalistan groups in countries ranging from the United States, UK, Canada to Australia Down Under to which diplomatic reproof may not be enough. Redlisting the organisations and seeking their shut down in countries in which they have take refuge needs to be pursued vigourously.
These groups have launched violent attacks on Indian embassies and consulates exploiting lack of anticipation and weak security deployed at these with the protests being seen as an expression of resentment by a section of Sikh communities in these countries abroad.
The possibility of these groups resorting to violence was not factored thus leading to random attacks by the pro Khalistan groups who have organized themselves now to protest actions being taken against a vigilante group Waris Punjab De which has been taken over by a pro Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh who is operating above the law of the land.
The protests by Khalistan supporters in London and San Francisco were organised over the crackdown by law enforcement agencies against pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh and his aides in Punjab. Both were marred by acts of violence and vandalism.
In fact the national flag at the Indian high commission in London was pulled down during a protest by pro-Khalistan activists as shown by protestors clambering on to a balcony and pulling down the Indian flag from a pole at the front of the high commission to cheers from the other men.
There is no logical reason for protests being organized to support Amritpal Singh who is a fugitive from the law and then bringing down India’s National Flag at Indian diplomatic establishment abroad as well forcing cancellations of disallowing functions by Indian diplomats due to insecurities.
India has been emphasizing provision of adequate security as per diplomatic norms and thus in the past few days the United States and the UK mission heads in Delhi have been called up.'
In a meeting with the US Charge d’Affaires in New Delhi, on March 20, India conveyed strong protest at the vandalisation of the property of the Consulate General of India, San Francisco. The US Government was reminded of its basic obligation to protect and secure diplomatic representation and asked to take appropriate measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents. “Our Embassy in Washington D.C. also conveyed our concerns to the US State Department along similar lines,” as per the Ministry of External Affairs Press release.
This was the second day in running that India registered a strong protest with a foreign mission with a country as New Delhi called in the senior-most UK diplomat in New Delhi to convey India’s strong protest at the actions taken by separatist and extremist elements against the Indian High Commission in London on March 19.
An explanation was demanded for the complete absence of the British security that allowed these elements to enter the High Commission premises the Ministry of External Affairs said in the press release.
British deputy high commissioner Christina Scott was summoned to the external affairs ministry after several videos on social media showed a Sikh man pulling down the flag outside the Indian mission in London. UK high commissioner Alex Ellis, who is away from New Delhi, denounced the incident at the Indian mission in a tweet as per the Hindustan Times.
This comes even as there is a sense that recent anti-India protests in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US appear to be coordinated by an external agency suspected to be the Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan.