India summons UK envoy over farmer discussion in UK parliament

Amidst farmers’ protest, the relations between India and the UK have taken an unpleasant turn with gratuitous discussion in the British Parliament on agricultural reforms.In the discussion, the British MPs accused India of violating human and civil rights not only of farmers, but of Kashmiris as well. A Labour MP of PoK origin called for sanctions against India and seizure of any UK-based assets belonging to PM Modi or the figures in BJP. Incensed, India has issued a demarche to Britain expressing its opposition and displeasure to the “unwarranted and tendentious discussion” and gross interference in the politics of another democratic country. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla summoned UK’s High Commissioner Alex Ellis and conveyed that “British MPs should refrain from practicing vote-bank politics by misrepresenting events, especially in relation to another fellow democracy.” In a statement, the Indian high commission in London said it “had taken note of the distinctly one-sided discussion” sparked by a petition on press freedoms and protester safety in India. “We deeply regret that false assertions — without substantiation or facts — were made, casting aspersions on the largest functioning democracy in the world and its institutions”, it said.