UK Parliamentary Delegation Meets Vice President Dhankhar, Discusses Business, People-To-People Ties

UK Parliamentary delegation met Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday to discuss business and people-to-people ties amid the Times report controversy.

Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankar with UK Parliamentary delegation

New Delhi: A Parliamentary delegation from the United Kingdom on Tuesday called on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and held discussions over historical, business, and people-to-people ties between both nations. The delegation also called on Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Steel Jyotiraditya Scindia and discussed enhancing the trade ties while strengthening bilateral agreements, safety, and security and India’s G20 leadership.

This meeting with the UK delegation came amid 'The Times' report which claimed that India had stalled negotiations because the British government failed to condemn the recent attack on the High Commission in London by pro-Khalistan supporters, reported news agency ANI.

VP Dhankhar took to Twitter to post about this meeting and said, "A parliamentary delegation from UK, co-led by Baroness Verma & Lord Karan Bilimoria called on Hon'ble Vice President, Shri Jagadeep Dhankhar today. Discussion touched upon historical, business & people-to-people ties as they resolved to take India-UK relationship to greater heights."

A parliamentary delegation from UK, co-led by Baroness Verma & Lord Karan Bilimoria called on Hon'ble Vice President, Shri Jagadeep Dhankhar today.
Discussion touched upon historical, business & people-to-people ties as they resolved to take 🇮🇳-🇬🇧 relationship to greater heights. pic.twitter.com/ajCaq8yObn

— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) April 11, 2023

The Times, a London-based newspaper in its edition of April 10 cited senior British government sources to report that India "disengaged" from the talks for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the UK and made it clear that there would be no progress unless it condemns the Khalistan movement publically. However, as per the report, sources inside the Indian government denied this while calling it 'baseless'.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the UK Department for Business and Trade on April 10 said that British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has indeed condemned the recent acts of violence at the Indian High Commission in London. Cleverly said that both nations are committed to delivering an ambitious and mutually beneficial Foreign Trade Agreement and concluded the last round of talks just last month.

UK's spokesperson also said that the Metropolitan Police was reviewing security and changes were being made in order to ensure safety.

On March 19, Khalistani supporters staged a protest outside the Indian High Commission in London against the recent police action in Punjab against fugitive Amritpal Singh. During the protest, one of the protestors pulled down the Indian flag.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi recently said that India expects to see more than just assurance. He hoped that foreign governments would act against this act of violence and prosecute the ones involved.