The MEA should be lauded for goading London into take action against Khalistanis
India has denied reports of checking negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK, calling it “baseless.” This was in response to a report in the London-based Times which said that India has halted trade talks with the UK. New Delhi was reportedly unhappy with London over the latter’s reluctance to condemn Sikh extremists; some of them even attacked the Indian High Commission in London last month. The report said that India is not likely to resume talks until the UK condemns the Sikh extremist group that attacked the High Commission. The ties between India and the UK got strained in the past few weeks—and just because of the hooliganism of Khalistanis. The BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was extremely critical of him, was intensely not just by the Government but also a large number of people in India. The attacks on the Indian High Commission were carried out by the supporters of Amriptal Singh, a Khalistani leader who is now a fugitive. According to The Times report, the UK Home Office is planning to make an announcement in the coming weeks and a crackdown on Sikh extremists and supporters of the Khalistan movement so that the trade negotiations could be brought back on track. The UK media had earlier too reported that the Indian Government had “disengaged” from FTA negotiations. If there was indeed such disengagement, the Ministry of External Affairs should be lauded for goading London into taking action against Khalistanis.
This is how issues should be handled, and not in a manner that raises a stink—almost literally. There were reports earlier that the local authorities in New Delhi were making a public toilet near the British High Commissioner’s residence. The UK government opposed this on security grounds. The decision was seen as an expression of India’s ire against the British government’s failure to protect its diplomatic mission in London. Another expression was the removal of police barricades from near the High Commissioner’s residence and mission. While India’s anger is justified, such reactions don’t show the world’s largest democracy in a good light. Going slow on the India-UK FTA was, however, justified—and it has yielded good results. FTA talks began on June 17, 2022; it was hoped that these would conclude by Diwali in October, but that didn’t happen. This was primarily because of political turmoil in the UK, resulting in the resignations of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and then his successor Liz Truss. The negotiations recommenced after the new PM Modi met his British counterpart Rishi Sunak in Bali during the G20 summit. The UK is interested in an FTA with India. The MEA has been smart in leveraging this to the benefit of India. There is a lesson that our policy and decision makers can learn from this episode: we can leverage our economic might to influence decisions in Western capitals.