India condemns breach of Jaishankar's security in UK, serves demarche on British charge d'affaires

India on Thursday served a demarche to the British charge d'affaires lodging a strong protest over a breach in security for External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in London as a pro-Khalistani protester attempted to break barricades and tried to stop his motorcade while some others were shouting anti-India slogans. In a firm reaction, New Delhi condemned the incident and said it expects the host government to fully live up to their diplomatic obligations in such case. It also deplored the "misuse of democratic freedoms" by the "small group of separatist" elements.

People familiar with the matter said the charge d'affaires at the British High Commission was called to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and was served a demarche.

The incident happened as Jaishankar was leaving the Chatham House after concluding an interactive session at the institute, home to Royal Institute of International Affairs, on Wednesday evening.


The external affairs minister was in London as in the first leg of his six-day visit to the UK and Ireland from Tuesday that is aimed at exploring ways to further boost bilateral cooperation.

"We have seen the footage of a breach of security during the visit of the external affairs minister to the UK," external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

"We condemn the provocative activities of this small group of separatists and extremists," he said.

"We deplore the misuse of democratic freedoms by such elements. We expect the host government in such cases to fully live up to their diplomatic obligations," Jaiswal added.

The British foreign ministry also condemned the incident and said attempts to disrupt public events were unacceptable.

Videos posted on social media showed a small group of pro-Khalistan protesters holding yellow flags were shouting slogans against India and Jaishankar on the opposite side of the road from Chatham House.

As Jaishankar was about to leave the institute, a tall man was seen attempting to break the police cordon and run towards Jaishankar's motorcade.

The tall and bearded man even tried to block the minister's motorcade by standing in front of it and tore an Indian flag.

The man was swiftly taken away by Metropolitan Police officers.

It was not the first such incident of breach of security by pro-Khalistan elements.

In March, 2023, certain pro-Khalistan elements pulled down the Indian flag at the Indian high commission in London, triggering strong reaction from India.

Following the incident, India summoned the senior-most British diplomat in Delhi and demanded an explanation over complete "absence of security" at the mission.

India has been asking the UK to take action against pro-Khalistani elements operating from British soil.