‘Things get under my skin when…’: S Jaishankar on Indian high commission in London violence

External affairs minister S Jaishankar recently spoke on the March 19 violence at the Indian High Commission in London and said “things get under my skin” when people don’t respect India.

Jaishankar was on a podcast – The Ranveer Show – where he spoke on several issues related to Indian foreign policies and challenges.

“I had actually landed from a plane, when I saw this man climbing up the Indian High Commission in London and was trying to pull down the flag… It got under my skin,” Jaishankar.

“When people try to score points… personal points I just shrug it. When ‘I’ gets pushed, and that I is not me, but ‘India’… That sense that you are not given respect and people are condescending, some times ambush you…,” Jaishankar added.

Earlier, Jaishankar had said India would not accept differential standards of security. He also accused the UK of not meeting the obligation of providing security to the diplomats of the Mission, which is expected of a country where a high commission or a consulate is located.

“On the flag and the security of the high commission, in this particular case in the UK – whenever any country sends an embassy anywhere abroad, it is the obligation of the receiving country to provide security for a diplomat to do his work. It is the obligation of the receiving country to ensure the embassy or the high commission or the consulate and their premises are respected. These obligations were not met,” Jaishankar said at an event organised by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.

Avtar Singh dead

Incidentally, Avtar Singh, the principal orchestrator of the Indian High Commission violence and self-styled chief of designated terror outfit Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) Khanda, died in Sandwell hospital in Birmingham on June 15.

Sikh Federation UK, which has styled itself as one of the largest Sikh organisations based in the UK, said Avtar Singh was terminally ill with blood cancer. He was on a life support system for the last few days.

Wanted in a conspiracy to kill Sukhbir Singh Badal (president of Shiromani Akali Dal-B), former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and senior advocate Rajwinder Singh Bains, Avtar Singh was allegedly involved in terrorist activities in the UK by joining the KLF remnants active in Britain and other countries.

Avtar Singh, who initially went to the UK in 2007 on a study visa but later took asylum there in 2012 and never returned since then, was linked to anti-India activities including the attack on the Tricolour at the high commission of India in London – allegations that he had denied. His family still resides in Purana in Moga district.