[🇮🇳] India---News & Views

[Saif]

India summons UK envoy after Sikh 'separatist' breaches Jaishankar’s security, tears national flag

The UK charge d'affaires was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs and was served a demarche

www.thedailystar.net

India summons UK envoy after Sikh 'separatist' breaches Jaishankar’s security, tears national flag

File photo of S Jaishankar

India today summoned the British charge d'affaires in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest against a breach in security for External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in London as an alleged Sikh separatist protester tried to break through a police cordon and tried to stop his motorcade.

The UK charge d'affaires was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs and was served a demarche, PTI reported quoting people familiar with the matter.

India condemned the incident and said it expects the host government to fully live up to their diplomatic obligations in such a case. It also deplored the "misuse of democratic freedoms" by the "small group of separatist" elements.

Video footage showed that the protester stood in front of the minister's car and tore the Indian flag before he was whisked away.

The videos posted on social media showed a handful of protesters waving flags of a Sikh separatist movement called "Khalistan" and shouting slogans outside think-tank Chatham House in London on Wednesday where Jaishankar was speaking.

Jaishankar is on a six-day trip to the UK and Ireland.

"We deplore the misuse of democratic freedoms by such elements. We expect the host government in such cases to fully live up to their diplomatic obligations," Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Indian MEA, said in a statement.​

 

[Saif]

Indian fugitive accused in nearly $2b bank fraud arrested in Belgium

Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi, the jeweller accused of being involved in an alleged fraud of nearly $2 billion against Punjab National Bank in 2018, has been arrested in Belgium, a source with India's Enforcement Directorate said. The Indian government had sent a request for Choksi's extradition pr

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Indian fugitive accused in nearly $2b bank fraud arrested in Belgium
FE ONLINE DESK
Published :
Apr 14, 2025 11:22
Updated :
Apr 14, 2025 11:22

Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi, the jeweller accused of being involved in an alleged fraud of nearly $2 billion against Punjab National Bank in 2018, has been arrested in Belgium, a source with India's Enforcement Directorate said.

The Indian government had sent a request for Choksi's extradition prior to his arrest, but he is likely to challenge it on medical grounds, the source added.

Punjab National Bank, India's second largest state-run lender by assets, had announced in 2018 that it had discovered alleged fraud worth $1.8 billion at a single branch in Mumbai, reports Reuters.

The bank had filed a criminal complaint with India's federal investigative agency against several entities including billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and Choksi, his uncle and the managing director of Gitanjali Gems, saying they had defrauded PNB.

Last week, a Pakistani-born Canadian businessman accused of helping orchestrate the 2008 attacks in Mumbai landed in New Delhi after the US extradited him in the first such transfer in a terrorism case.​