MEA slams UK parliament report on transnational repression as ‘baseless'
India's ministry of external affairs has condemned a UK parliamentary select committee report that names India as one of 12 countries, alongside Russia, China and Iran, as allegedly involved in 'transnational repression' of individuals in Britain as 'baseless' and emanating from 'dubious sources'.
Official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday the claims rely 'predominantly' on 'proscribed entities and individuals with a clear documented history of anti-India hostility. The deliberate reliance on discredited sources calls into question the credibility of the report itself.'
The report, titled 'Transnational Repression in the UK', was published on Wednesday by the Joint Human Rights Committee, made up of MPs and peers, which consider matters relating to human rights in the UK.
Its members include Indian-origin peer Lord Dholakia.
Page 6 states: 'Our inquiry received evidence alleging that many states had conducted TNR (transnational repression) activities on UK soil. Multiple evidence submissions accused Bahrain, China, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE of perpetrating TNR in the UK."
China, Russia and Iran were highlighted as the 'three most flagrant TNR perpetrators in the UK'.
Written evidence submitted to the committee was also published. Those commenting on India include Sikhs for Justice, Dhal Khalsa UK, Sikh Federation UK, and the Sikh Press Association.
The report said that the number of state-threat investigations run by MI5 had jumped by 48% in the last year and made recommendations on how the UK should tackle TNR, such as sanctioning perpetrators, expelling diplomats, and taking TNR into account when making international trade partnerships.
Former UK security minister Tom Tugendhat told TOI: 'This report makes no statement against India. It merely records that evidence was given by a group that has long been hostile to India. As security minister, this conversation on TNR was not a conversation I ever had to have either with the India high commission, or our friends in the Indian govt, or the Indian agencies that we worked with very closely, for the security of all of our people.
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'The report does not suggest that India is doing it. It just states they received evidence about India. That doesn't mean the committee believes it,' sources told TOI. 'You can refuse to admit the evidence, but the bar for doing that is really high. Sikhs for Justice is not proscribed in the UK.'
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