India summons senior British diplomat over pulling down of flag at its London high commission during protest

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - India said Sunday that it summoned the senior-most British diplomat in New Delhi to convey its "strong protest" over actions taken by "separatist and extremist elements" against the Indian High Commission in the UK.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, the diplomat was summoned late in the evening and an "explanation was demanded for the complete absence of British security" that allowed these "elements to enter the High Commission premises."

"She was reminded in this regard of the basic obligations of the UK Government under the Vienna Convention," the ministry said.

The ministry said that India finds "unacceptable the indifference of the UK Government to the security of Indian diplomatic premises and personnel in the UK" and maintained that "it is expected that the UK Government would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in today’s incident and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents."

Before the Indian statement, British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis wrote on Twitter on Sunday that "I condemn the disgraceful acts today against the people and premises of the @HCI_London - totally unacceptable."

Indian news agency Press Trust of India said that some "Khalistani elements" pulled down the Indian flag at the Indian High Commission in London "during a protest."

A section of India's Sikh religious community launched the Khalistan movement in the late 1970s in order to establish a separate homeland in the northern Punjab region. While Sikh secessionism in India has died down, pro-secession groups have become active internationally.