Pak Sahafat – The Times of London newspaper reported on Monday that the trade talks between India and England have been stopped due to New Delhi’s displeasure with the London government for not condemning the “Khalistan” separatist group.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency, The Times quoted a senior British government official as saying that the Indian government has made the continuation of trade talks conditional on London’s public condemnation of the Khalstan group.
It is said that supporters of this separatist group attacked the Indian High Commission building in London last month and injured two of its security guards in addition to minor damage to the windows of the building. The British government has condemned this attack, but according to the Times, the Indian government wants to publicly condemn this group.
An unnamed British government source told The Times: India has said it doesn’t want to talk about trade because it thinks we don’t take the attack on the Indian High Commission and the Sikh separatist movement seriously.
Meanwhile, England is trying to develop its trade relations with countries around the world in the post-Brexit period. India is considered one of the biggest business targets of the UK, and according to statistics, the volume of trade between the two countries is estimated at 35 billion dollars a year. Since the Indian “Rishi Sunak” took the helm of the government in London, the two countries have started a new chapter of bilateral relations.
But last month’s attack has greatly affected the relations between the two countries. The Indian government summoned the highest British official in New Delhi to express his protest against the attack on the Indian High Commission building.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley called Khalstan’s behavior unacceptable and said that the country’s police are investigating the matter. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India says that it is not satisfied with the position of the British side and wants to publicly condemn this separatist group.
In a report, the Reuters news agency denied the news of the Times newspaper and claimed that the trade talks between the two sides have not stopped. But according to the Times report, the trade disputes between the two sides goes beyond the attack by Khalstan separatists.
India has proposed to the UK not to deduct national insurance from Indian businesses that do not receive government welfare benefits. But the British side is not willing to back down in this regard and has claimed that such an action provokes other countries and causes a loss of 500 million pounds to the British economy.
According to the Times, the broadcasting of a documentary against the Prime Minister of India by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the British Home Secretary’s concern about the consequences of the trade agreement between London and New Delhi on the increase of Indian immigrants to the UK are other issues that cast a shadow on the differences between the two countries.