UK aid to India no surprise: analysts

The Southhall Sikhs might be reacting with shock and anger about the Britain’s involvement in Operation Bluestar, pushing Prime Minister David Cameron to order an inquiry, but British analysts say that providing such assistance to India was natural for Britain, given the concern the two countries shared about separatist terror.

Shaun Gregory, South Asian terror expert at Durham University, said, “Given their experience of the Iran embassy siege in London in 1980, the SAS could not have been called in for any other reason than to help the Indian government conduct Operation Bluestar with minimal casualties and damage to the temple.”

“It does not surprise me that an Indian request for advice and assistance was made or that the Margaret Thatcher government would respond positively to it,” Gregory added. The Thatcher government’s reaction would stem from its own ongoing experience of fighting militant separatists in the form of the Irish Republican Army at the time.

Plus, the UK was also “anxious” about “potential instability in India” and desirous of supporting the government of Indira Gandhi, not least because it would help offset Soviet influence in New Delhi.

Thatcher and Gandhi shared a good personal relation too. Brookings Institution analyst Bruce Riedel, in an analysis, noted that Gandhi was the true “soul mate” of Thatcher, partly because they were both women heads of government in maledominated political systems.