India is a great democracy and has constitutional protections for its communities, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said when asked about UK’s concerns on the human rights situation in India. While responding to a question on whether Delhi had discussed human rights groups’ concerns about the rise of “Hindu nationalism”, Johnson said, “On our relations with India and how we deal with the question about human rights group of course, we have these conversations (on human rights or democratic values). The advantage of our friendship is that we can have them in a friendly way. It’s very important to realise that India has constitutional protections for communities.” He further said, “India is a very different country from autocracies around the world. It’s a great democracy. It’s a stunning, shining fact that 1.35 billion people live under a democracy. That is something we should celebrate as it offers us an opportunity for closer cooperation and partnership.”
Johnson also said that this doesn’t mean that the UK won’t raise the question of the human rights issues.
The British PM was speaking at a press conference on Friday evening after his engagements with Prime Minister Modi.
Earlier, Johnson talked about India’s democracy and said, “India is one of the world’s oldest democratic countries and world’s largest democracy, sticking together and confronting our shared anxieties about autocracies around the world and we are acting together to make the world safer and more prosperous.”
Johnson also said that the UK did not tolerate “extremist groups” and said that an anti-extremist task force has been set up by India and the UK to address the issue.
“We have a very strong view that we don’t tolerate extremist groups threatening other countries, threatening India. We’ve set up an Anti-Extremist Task Force,” Johnson said.
“Both these things were raised with us and we have a very strong view on the UK that we don’t tolerate extremist groups setting up in the UK with a view to threatening other countries, threatening India,” Johnson said while responding to a question on India’s concerns about the issue of Khalistani extremists and actions taken against them.
He further elaborated on the steps being taken in order to address extremism including the setting up of an anti-extremist task force. “What we have done in particular as a result of this visit is set up an anti-extremist task force to see what more we can do to help India in that particular respect,” Johnson said.
Johnson thanked his “Khaas dost” Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an “amazing reception” that he received in India and said that he felt like cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
“My friend, Prime Minister Narendra, my ‘khaas dost’ (special friend), we’ve had a fantastic few days here in India. And yesterday, I became the first Conservative Prime Minister to visit Gujarat, which is your birthplace. I had an amazing reception,” Johnson said at a joint address with PM Modi. “I felt like Sachin Tendulkar upon my arrival and also like Amitabh Bachchan. I was everywhere to be seen. It was fantastic,” the British PM said.
ANTI EXTREMIST TASK FORCE SET UP
Pro-Khalistan and other extremist groups in the United Kingdom may face heat in the coming days. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during his visit to India, announced that the UK has set up an Anti-Extremist Task Force.
“We have a very strong view that we don’t tolerate extremist groups threatening other countries, threatening India. We’ve set up an Anti-Extremist Task Force,” Boris Johnson said.
The UK Prime Minister, while addressing a press conference in New Delhi, also spoke on the extradition of Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. “On the extradition cases, there are legal technicalities which have made it very difficult. The UK government has ordered their extradition… We don’t welcome people who want to use our legal system to evade the law here in India,” he said.