"Unacceptable, will not tolerate that behaviour": UK parliamentarian on Indian High Commission attack

By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India], April 15 : United Kingdom House of Lords Member Baroness Verma on Saturday called the attack on Indian High Commission in London "unacceptable", adding that the vandalism of any mission in her country would not be tolerated.
"I think first of all it is unacceptable that any mission should be attacked and I'm glad that they've taken some very strong steps to making sure that that message is out there loud and clear. We will not tolerate the behaviour that was seen against any mission and particularly a mission that I'm so closely connected with because of my own roots," Baroness Verma told ANI.
The House of Lords member added that the government has taken the incident seriously. "The police have taken it exceptionally seriously and I'm glad that there will be no tolerance of this kind of behaviour from anyone," she said.
In March this year, the Indian community in Britain erupted in anger following the vandalism of the Indian High Commission in London and the desecration of the Tricolour by Khalistani supporters. This led to an unprecedented outpouring of support from the diverse Indian community in Britain.
Born in Amritsar, Baroness Sandip Verma was part of the UK Parliamentary delegation that called on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and held discussions over historical, business, and people-to-people ties between both nations.
Talking about the meeting, Baroness Verma said Vice President Dhankhar is an incredibly knowledgeable person. They discussed moving closer ties with new technologies and collaboration with UK and India.
"There was a lot of positive talk around, all of the opportunities that are arising in India the trajectory that India is on, which is wonderful to see and the growth pattern for India allows all of us to see how we can have greater stronger relationships. It was a very positive meeting, and I know that my colleagues and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting His Excellency, the Vice President," she added.
Baroness Verma made the above remarks at a business conference -- 'Breaking Barriers To Trade: Delhi Chapter' -- an event where women entrepreneurs from India, UK and Uganda, gathered in New Delhi on Saturday.
She also expressed her views on the recent telephonic conversation between PM Narendra Modi and UK PM Rishi Sunak and believes both leaders know how to build stronger closer relationships.
"I think both value each other's country's contributions. I think we have a wonderfully large diaspora in the UK. It's a living bridge between India and UK and of course, our own Prime Minister in the UK is of Indian origin, but he governs the country. He has to look at the best interests of the whole country. And I think both Prime Ministers understand that and that's why working together working and closely building and strengthening those ties is critical. And I have faith that we will actually genuinely go from strength to strength," she added.