British foreign office has apologised for India’s national flag-burning incident, which took place at London’s Parliament Square on Wednesday.
A group of Pakistan backed pro-Khalistani and Kashmiri protesters, in the presence of London Metropolitan Police, pulled down the tricolor from a pole at London’s Parliament Square and replaced it with a flag representing Pakistani held Kashmir and Khalistan.
The same group had also scuffled with Baloch activists that were protesting against “Pakistani brutalities in Balochistan”. The situation had resulted in a standoff, where both parties chanted slogans against each other. However, Metropolitan Police UK had quickly controlled the situation from escalating.
The incident took place when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was addressing the Indian community at Westminster yesterday.
“While people have the right to hold peaceful protests, we are disappointed with the action taken by a small minority in Parliament Square and contacted High Commissioner Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha as soon as we were made aware,” according to Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s statement, reported by asianlite.com.
The web portal also reported that the UK officials have arranged for a replacement flag to be put up at the Parliament Square.
The foreign office also mentioned that Prime Minister Modi’s visit “has strengthened our relationship with India and we look forward to working even more closely together on a number of important areas.”
The Indian Journalist Association has also taken note of the incident and called for a strong action against the wrongdoers.