Hours after his arrival in New Delhi, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented on the issue of Khalistani extremist groups in the UK saying that "no form of extremism or violence like that is acceptable."
Speaking to news agency ANI, Sunak said: "It's a really important question and let me just say unequivocally that no form of extremism or violence like that is acceptable in the UK. And that's why we are working very closely with the Indian government to particularly tackle 'PKE' or Pro-Khalistan Extremism."
"I don't think it's right. Our security Minister recently was just in India talking to his counterparts. We have working groups together to share intelligence and information so that we can root out this kind of violent extremism. It's not right and I won't tolerate it in the UK," Sunak added.
Sunak arrived in New Delhi with his wife Akshata Murthy to a grand welcome for the G20 Summit. He earlier took to Twitter and said that he is “meeting world leaders to address some of the challenges that impact every one of us."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to his tweet and welcomed him to India.
Why Sunak's remarks are significant: There is a growing concern in India regarding the activities of extremist groups in the UK, particularly following an attack on the Indian high commission in London in March.
Sunak also mentioned a recent meeting between India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the UK's Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, which focused on addressing the threats posed by extremism and corruption.
During this meeting, it was announced that new funding, amounting to Rs 1 crore, would be allocated to enhance the UK's capacity to combat pro-Khalistan extremism. This investment aims to bolster the understanding of the threat posed by "pro-Khalistan extremism" and complement the collaborative efforts already underway between the UK and India.
In March, India expressed strong concerns after pro-Khalistan elements attacked on the Indian high commission in London, going so far as to remove the national flag from a pole at the front of the building.
What else did Sunak say?: Sunak also addressed his Hindu faith and told the agency, "I'm a proud Hindu, and that's how I was raised. That's how I am. Hopefully, I can visit a Mandir while I'm here for the next couple of days. We just had Raksha Bandhan, so from my sister and my cousins, I have all my rakhis, and I didn't have time to celebrate Janmashtami properly the other day."
"But hopefully, I said, I can make up for that if we visit a Mandir this time. But it's something that is important to me. I think faith is something that helps everybody who has faith in their lives, particularly when you have these stressful jobs like I do. Having faith to give you resilience, to give you strength, is important..." he said.
"It is personally incredibly special for me to be back in India. It's a country I love dearly, a country where my family are from. But I have come here in this role to represent the UK, to find ways to forge closer links with India and play a part in making sure that India has an incredibly successful G20," Indian-origin Sunak said.
Importantly, Sunak also commented on India's peculiar position regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said, "Well, it's not for me to tell India what positions to take on international issues, but I know India rightly cares about the international rule of law, the UN Charter and respect for territorial integrity."
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