Indian government has condemned the security breach during the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's visit to London, calling it "provocative activities". India called out the misuse of "democratic freedoms" by a small group of "separatists and extremists".
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00:00India officially condemns External Affairs Minister's security breach in London.
00:05Here's what happened few hours ago.
00:07A pro-Khalistan mob, aggressive in nature as usual,
00:11heckling the External Affairs Minister on his visit to London.
00:16Remember, apart from Canada,
00:18England, especially London city is where you do see
00:21a prominent number of these pro-Khalistan extremist elements,
00:26aggressive in nature.
00:28But this time, remember, while they are seen protesting
00:31and they have, remember, tried to bring down the Indian flag
00:34earlier as well from the embassy.
00:35However, this time it appeared to be a security breach
00:39which could have turned fatal for India's External Affairs Minister.
00:43This security breach, we are being told,
00:45happened while the minister was visiting and leaving the hotel premises.
00:50India has told the United Kingdom authorities very clearly,
00:54live up to diplomatic obligations
00:56and we condemn provocative activity
00:59and making it very clear that this cannot be accepted.
01:02Remember, it's not about the number of protesters.
01:05It's the fact how close they were allowed to possibly get
01:09to the External Affairs Minister.
01:10My colleague Shashank Mattu joining me for the latest on that.
01:14Shashank, good morning. Tell us more about it.
01:16What has India said? What exactly happened?
01:19Well, so what we saw was that the External Affairs Minister
01:22was just stepping into his vehicle in London.
01:25He's there in the UK and Ireland for a six-day visit.
01:28And it was when he stepped out, you saw a protest,
01:32a group of Pakistani protesters.
01:34You know, it wasn't a very large group, around 25-30 people.
01:37And then one man who's holding an Indian flag runs,
01:41evades police, runs in front of the car of the External Affairs Minister,
01:44tears the Indian flag and is immediately then hauled off by the police
01:49and is moved out to the side.
01:50And then the External Affairs Minister moves on from that part of London.
01:55Of course, the External Affairs Ministry, several sources are now saying
01:59that they've seen this footage.
02:00They are condemning the activities of Khalistani extremists.
02:04And they're also saying that, look, the British government
02:06has to live up to its obligations to protect Indian diplomats.
02:09You might remember that we're coming on the two-year anniversary
02:12of the attack on the Indian High Commission in London
02:15that took place when, you know, a number of pro-Khalistani protesters
02:18attacked the High Commission, vandalised the High Commission as well.
02:21We all saw those visuals. It's almost two years since then.
02:23And, of course, after that, the British government came to India
02:26and said that we will put together a fund to work together
02:29with the Indian side to counter this issue.
02:32But, of course, judging by the latest incident
02:35with the External Affairs Minister in London,
02:36the Indian side is going to be extremely unhappy.
02:38Very important. And thank you for reminding us as well.
02:41It was in March 2023 when the High Commission was vandalised.
02:45And, remember, this clearly means the question coming in...
02:48And, Shashank, I'll take that second question to you as well.
02:50India's statement is very clear, but it also raises an alarm
02:54that for these protesters, and I wouldn't call them protesters simply
02:58because they definitely mean much worse,
03:00that the security breach being permitted,
03:03that how come the security protocol there in London
03:06from the British authorities, not well aware this could happen?
03:09Well, it's absolutely egg on the faces of the British authorities.
03:13You could see that these protesters were there.
03:16If you look at the footage, it's very, very clear
03:18that the gentleman in question slipped through very easily
03:22from the police authorities.
03:24It seemed like they were extremely lax
03:25and then jumped in front of the car of the External Affairs Minister.
03:28I mean, it was comic stuff in some senses,
03:31if you take away from the fact that the consequences
03:34could have been quite severe.
03:36And then, of course, you saw the police forces get into action
03:39and haul off the individual in question.
03:41But I think that this is not just a diplomat.
03:45This is, of course, India's foreign minister,
03:47one of the senior most members of the Indian cabinet.
03:49And if you're not going to provide the security properly there,
03:52then what does that mean exactly for your professions?
03:55You know, what Britain has always said is that,
03:57no, we want to balance security along with freedom of expression.
04:00At this point in time, it seems there is a lot of freedom of expression
04:02and not enough security for India's top diplomat.
04:05All right, keep tracking all the latest on this.
04:09This is getting serious now.
04:11Because remember, there's been a threat already.
04:14There have been posters, assassination threats already
04:17against our ministers, our officials.
04:20If individuals are getting so close,
04:22on his face trying to tear up an Indian flag,
04:25what were the British authorities really doing at that point?