Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of terrorism and called for “effective steps to ward off the threats posed by radicalisation, violence, and intolerance,” during a telephonic conversation with his British counterpart Boris Johnson. During the call, PM Modi raised the issue of the violence which took place in front of the Indian mission in London on Independence Day. Responding to this, Prime Minister Johnson “regretted the incident and assured that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure safety and security of the High Commission, its personnel and visitors.” The matter was raised in the light of numerous reports suggesting that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is using certain groups based in the UK to radicalise Sikh youths and collect funds for terrorist activities in India. New Delhi has in the past too raised the issue of the UK increasingly becoming a centre of anti-Indian activities and stressed on the need for cooperation between the two counties to counter-terrorism. The anti-Indian protests, which were held in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370, had witnessed despicable scenes of the Pakistani side throwing eggs and stones on the Indian diaspora which had gathered outside the embassy to celebrate Independence Day last week. Four people were arrested in connection with the incident by the London police. Speaking on the current situation in Kashmir, Johnson made it clear that the UK sees the issue as a bilateral matter between Indian and Pakistan and underlined the importance of resolving it through dialogue. In addition, the two sides agreed on the importance of the partnership and the need to build on it further, particularly through trade and economic ties and through the “living bridge that links our countries”. The conversation came ahead of the G7 meeting in France which is scheduled to take place over the weekend, where the two leaders will meet for the first time since Johnson became the Prime Minister of UK. “Ahead of the G7, the two Prime Ministers agreed on the importance of working together to tackle climate change and other threats to biodiversity. They looked forward to meeting at the summit this weekend to discuss this and other issues,” according to an official statement.
