‘No shift in UK policy on terror after cancellation of Wani rally’
LONDON:Britain withdrawing permission to the July 8 ‘Kashmir Rally’ in Birmingham to commemorate the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani after India’s strong protest did not signal a policy shift to events seen as ‘anti-Indian’, official sources here said.
Britain allowing several groups to hold events and activities seen by New Delhi as ‘anti-India’ has been one of the core concerns in the relationship, highlighted by India's ‘note verbale’ on the Birmingham rally and a recent strongly-worded speech by Indian high commissioner YK Sinha, who said improved post-Brexit trade ties were not possible without London addressing India's core concerns.
Dominic Asquith, British high commissioner to India, told HT: “There is no shift in policy as I see it. The UK’s approach to terrorism and counter-terrorism with India has always been rock-solid all the way. We have close collaboration across many strands.”
“This (permission withdrawal) was a decision taken by the Birmingham City Council. A lot of focus was directed at the position of Burhan Wani. We are not changing our position on terrorism. It is exactly what it has always been; strongly opposed to it,” he added.
Asquith, the great-grandson of former prime minister HH Asquith (1852-1928), said terrorism has affected both Britain and India, and it came up in every conversation between prime ministers Theresa May and Narendra Modi, most recently at the G20 summit. Asquith also said: “There is a long tradition of freedom of speech, but at the same time there are constraints around enabling people to go around their normal lives and concerns about inciting violence. It is difficult to say which future events will be like this one and the official approach to them".