India summons UK envoy over 'unwarranted' discussion on farm laws

Irked by the discussion in the United Kingdom’s parliament on the continuing protests by the farmers in India, the government on Tuesday summoned the British High Commissioner in New Delhi, Alex Ellis, to the Ministry of External Affairs and served him a démarche.

New Delhi conveyed to London that the discussion in the UK’s Parliament on the protest by the farmers was a “gross interference” in the politics of India. It also stressed that the members of the British Parliament should not practise “vote-bank politics”.

The British High Commissioner was the second foreign envoy to New Delhi to be summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) over criticism against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in the wake of the protest by the farmers against the new agricultural laws in India.

Ottawa’s envoy to New Delhi, Nadir Patel was on December 4 last summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), senior officials served him a démarche, conveying that the comments made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other ministers of the Canadian Government on the protest by the farmers “constitute an unacceptable interference in internal affairs” of India.

Read: Farmers' agitation will continue till three farm laws are withdrawn, says Rakesh Tikait

The discussion in the UK’s parliament saw several British MPs of the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party as well as the Liberal Democrats expressing concern over the way the Modi Government responded to the protest by the farmers. They also expressed concern over the alleged harassment of journalists who reported on the agitation against the new agricultural laws of India.

“The unprecedented protests should make one think about why so many are turning up. The arrests of journalists is a matter of serious concern,” Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, said. “The arrests of journalists is a matter of serious concern.”

The discussion prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government in London to indicate that it could raise the issue when he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi would meet or hold talks.

“While this is an exciting time for the UK-India partnership, it does not hinder us from raising difficult issues,” Minister of State for Asia, Nigel Adams, said.

He referred to Johnson’s proposed visit to New Delhi later this year for a meeting with Modi. “This will be an opportunity to discuss a range of bilateral issues with India. Where we have serious and specific concerns, we will raise them directly with the Indian Government, as would be expected of a friend and neighbour. Candid discussions are an important part of our mature and wide-ranging relationship with the Indian Government,” he said, in spite of recognizing that agricultural reforms was an internal matter of India.

The UK’s parliament took up the issue for discussion as an e-petition asking the lawmakers to discuss it had crossed the 1,00,000-signature threshold required for such a debate.

It, however, raised the hackles in New Delhi.

Ellis was summoned to the MEA where Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla conveyed New Delhi’s “strong opposition” to the “unwarranted and tendentious” discussion on “agricultural reforms” in India in the UK’s Parliament. Foreign Secretary made clear that “this (the discussion in the UK’s parliament) represented a gross interference in the politics of another democratic country,” according to a press release issued by the MEA.

Shringla also told London’s envoy to New Delhi that the members of British MPs should “refrain from practising vote bank politics by misrepresenting events, especially in relation to another fellow democracy”.