A man from a small group of protesters chanting pro-Khalistan slogans outside Chatham House attempted to breach the security perimeter as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar left the think tank in London, drawing condemnation from India over the provocative activities of this "small group of separatists and extremists".
The group waving separatist flags was barricaded and monitored by a significant police presence outside the venue on Wednesday night, with officers rushing to restrain the man as he ran past the barricade in an attempt to block the path of the minister's car pulling at an Indian flag.
He was swiftly taken aside by Metropolitan Police officers and no arrests have been reported so far.
“It is shameful that this attack comes when Dr S Jaishankar is on a UK tour and had just completed a successful meeting with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy where they discussed bilateral ties,” said community organisation INSIGHT UK, posting footage of the incident on social media.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi condemned the incident of the security breach and called on the UK government to "live up to their diplomatic obligations".
"We have seen the footage of a breach of security during the visit of the external affairs minister to the UK," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi.
"We condemn the provocative activities of this small group of separatists and extremists. We deplore the misuse of democratic freedoms by such elements. We expect the host government in such cases to fully live up to their diplomatic obligations," he said.
Earlier, during his session at Chatham House, the EAM was asked about human rights concerns pertaining to India.
“A lot of this is political. We have been for political reasons at the receiving end of a lot of expressions and campaigns on human rights. We listen to it. We are not perfect, nobody is perfect. There can be situations which require redressal and remedy,” said Jaishankar.
“But I would actually argue, if one looks around the world, we have a very strong human rights record," he said.
"As a credible democracy, where people have growing faith in our democracy, where representation has broadened in every conceivable way over the last many decades, where the state has been very fair in terms of treatment of its citizens, I think any sweeping concern on human rights is misplaced. I don't see any justification for it at all,” he added.
