Indian envoy thanks San Francisco Police Chief's assurance to raise level of security at Indian Consulate
Mar 22, 2023
San Francisco (California) [US], March 22 : Consul General of India Nagendra Prasad met San Francisco Police Department Chief William Scott and discussed the attack on the Indian Consulate.
Taking to Twitter, Prasad said, "Thank you @SFPDChief for the assurances. Met Chief Scott to discuss the attack on @CGISFO Chancery building on March 19 and request to raise the level of protection to the Consulate premises and personnel."
This comment came after Khalistan supporters started creating chaos across the world. After vandalism in London, Khalistan supporters allegedly attacked Indian Consulate in San Francisco (SFO). Videos of supporters breaking the doors and barging into the office surfaced on social media.
The visuals of the San Francisco consulate vandalism have been doing the rounds on social media, however, it is yet to be confirmed by Indian officials.
As per visuals, it can be confirmed that this happened outside the consulate, but the date cannot be confirmed.
Visuals shared online show a huge mob brandishing Khalistan flags mounted on wooden poles, using them to smash glass doors and windows of the consulate building. They raised pro-Khalistan slogans as they broke through makeshift security barriers raised by the city police and installed two Khalistani flags inside the premises.
Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), an Indian advocacy and awareness group on Sunday (local time) said that it "strongly suspect Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is behind," attacks on Indian missions in UK and US.
"We strongly suspect Pakistan's ISI is behind instigating and funding Sikh radicalization with false propaganda. We ask Indian Americans including the Sikh majority to rise against the extremism," read the FIIDS statement.
"We are also appalled by the complete law and order failure in both in London as well as in SFO where a few radicalized separatists attacked India's diplomatic missions," added the statement.
"It is extremely concerning to see that the United Kingdom and the United States of America are failing to fulfil the commitments as per the Vienna convention to protect diplomatic missions. We would urge law and order institutions like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI as well as the CIA to ensure that terrorism finds no place and support in the United States of America," added the statement.
Meanwhile, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has said vandalism at Indian Consulate in San Francisco is "absolutely unacceptable" and is condemned by the US.
"We certainly condemn that vandalism, it's absolutely unacceptable. State Department's diplomatic security service is working with local authorities to properly investigate. The state Department will work on infrastructure perspective to repair the damage," Kirby said.