Prevent Misuse OF Democratic Freedoms: Jaishankar Tells British Minister

External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar asked visiting British minister, Lord Tariq Ahmad to ensure the security of India's diplomatic missions in the UK.

He also urged the minister to prevent misuse of democratic freedoms. This comes in the backdrop of the vandalisation of the Indian high commission in London by pro-Khalistan groups in March.

"Met with UK MOS Lord Tariq Ahmad today in New Delhi... Underlined the obligation to ensure security of our diplomatic missions and prevent misuse of democratic freedoms," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

He also said that he discussed a broad range of issues ranging from the Free Trade Agreement and the South Asia to India-Pacific and G20 with the minister.

India and UK have had nine rounds of talks on free trade since January last year. Both countries are aiming towards a comprehensive pact that it expected to significantly enhance the bilateral trading relationship, which was worth around GBP 34 billion in 2022.

Recently Harjinder Kang was appointed as the chief negotiator by Britain. According to statistics by the UK government India was UK's 12th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022. This accounted for 2.1 pe cent of total UK trade.