India has launched a fierce diplomatic counterattack against a report from a UK parliamentary committee that accused it of engaging in transnational repression on British soil. The report, which also claims India has misused international policing tools like Interpol for political ends, was swiftly denounced by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as baseless and politically motivated.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that the report’s credibility and objectivity were questionable due to its deliberate reliance on unverified inputs from proscribed entities with a long record of anti-India hostility. The government's strong rebuke follows the July 30 release of the report, titled Transnational Repression in the UK, by the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights.
The document names India among 12 countries, including China and Russia, allegedly involved in targeting exiled dissidents, activists, and journalists. The committee's findings are heavily based on evidence provided by UK-based Sikh advocacy groups, who allege that Indian authorities have sought to weaponise global policing mechanisms to intimidate those supporting the Khalistan separatist movement, a claim India has long dismissed as misinformation.
This diplomatic flashpoint reignites tensions between the two nations, already strained by the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada last year. India’s sharp reaction signals a potential strain in its relations with the UK, with the fallout from these allegations likely to resonate well beyond the halls of Westminster and Raisina Hill.