Tit-for-tat move? Barricades outside British high commission removed

NEW DELHI: The extra barricades and security setup deployed outside the British High Commission as well as the residence of Alex Ellis, the UK’s High Commissioner to India, were removed on Wednesday in what appeared to be a response to British authorities failing to prevent vandalism of the Indian High Commission by Khalistan supporters in London on Sunday.
India slammed the UK after the incident, saying the “indifference” of London authorities towards the security of Indian diplomatic premises and personnel there was unacceptable. It strongly protested what it described as a complete absence of security outside the Indian high commission.

The Indian mission was vandalized despite India repeatedly asking the British authorities to tighten security at the high commission premises. However, the Indian move to remove barricades from the British High Commissioner and the High Commissioner’s residence appeared to be more of a symbolic gesture as general security around the area was tightened and intelligence officials also kept a close watch on movement near the premises at Chanakyapuri and Rajaji Marg, sources said. The British High Commission here said it did not want to comment on any security-related issue.

Police officials in central Delhi, where the high commission is based, also said that security arrangements or numbers of personnel deployed outside the British mission remained intact, denying that the removal of the barriers was aimed at sending a message to London. “Barricades placed on the road to the commission which created hurdles for commuters have been removed,” said a senior police officer.

A group of people chanting pro-Khalistan slogans vandalized the Indian High Commission in London on Sunday and took down the Indian flag. The British High Commission spokesman here declined to get involved in the issue, saying: “We do not comment on security matters.”

India responded similarly by removing the barricades near the US embassy, after IFS officer Devyani Khobragade, who serves as the deputy consul general in New York, was searched by US authorities in New York in 2013. At that time, the Center also asked the US consular staff and their families to return their diplomatic identity cards. Khobragade was charged by US authorities with visa fraud and other offences. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then the CM of Gujarat, refused to meet an American delegation to protest her ill-treatment.