India, UK trade talks. AFP.

New Delhi: Contrary to claims made by a report in The Times that the Indian government had “disengaged” from trade talks with the UK, making it contingent on British condemnation of the Khalistani group behind attacks on the Indian embassy in London last month, several reports suggested that New Delhi had rubbished the report as “baseless”.

A report by The Times, earlier in the day, claimed that India has “disengaged” trade talks with the UK following the attacks at the Indian embassy building in London.

It further claimed that India will not resume trade negotiations with Britain until the UK government condemned the Khalistani group behind the attack.

“The Indian government has ‘disengaged’ from trade talks and made it clear that there would be no progress without a public condemnation of the Khalistan movement,” The Times quoted senior British government sources as saying.

UK wants to restart trade talks with India

“Indians don’t want to talk about trade until they get a very public demonstration of condemnation of Khalistan extremism in the UK,” The Times report quoted a Whitehall source as saying.

To restart trade negotiation with India, the UK home office is planning to crack down on the Sikh extremists and supporters of Khalistani movement, the report said.

The report further said that to restart trade negotiation with India, the UK home office, in the coming weeks, is planning an announcement and also to crack down on Sikh extremists and supporters of the Khalistani movement, which is calling for the independence of Punjab, a state in northern India.

India-UK relations

Relations between India and the UK soured in the past weeks after protesters with Khalistan banners and flags staged a demonstration at the Indian High Commission in London on 19 March. They also took down an Indian flag and smashed the building’s window in a show of anger against the Punjab Police’s move to arrest fugitive Sikh separatist leader, Amritpal Singh, who remains elusive.

Also, the national broadcaster of the UK — the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, earlier this year, ran a critical documentary about Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

Will it hinder India-UK FTA?

A report by The Hindu, last month, quoted the spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying that the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between New Delhi and London and the tensions in the bilateral ties over India’s concerns around lax security at the Indian embassy in London were “unconnected”

“Trade talks with India continue. And both sides want to see us achieve a full free trade agreement,” the spokesperson said.

Is it just UK?

There has been a halt in trade talks between India and Pakistan since 2019. However, India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan, Suresh Kumar, last month said New Delhi never halted trade relations with Pakistan.

Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the senior Indian diplomat said it was Pakistan that stopped trade with India, and New Delhi wants better relations with Islamabad.

“India always wants better relations with Pakistan because we cannot change our geography. We want to move towards normal relations with Pakistan. We also didn’t stop trade with Pakistan, as it was Pakistan that did it,” Kumar said.

Pakistan suspended bilateral trade with India in 2019 and expelled its High Commissioner in Islamabad after New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

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