UK PM Johnson's India visit: Extradition issue and Khalistani threats on the table

New Delhi, Apr 19: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be visiting India on Apr 21 and Apr 22, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially invited his British counterpart. While the business will mainly revolve around financial subjects as the UK PM will hold a meeting with leading businesses, India will also be raising issues of extradition of economic offenders and increasing threats of Khalistan.

 

 

 

 

According to the statement released by the UK Prime Minister’s Office, “the leaders will hold in-depth talks on UK and India’s strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership, aimed at bolstering our close partnership and stepping up security co-operation in the Indo-Pacific.” Prime Minister Johnson has said, “This week I’ll be travelling to India, to deepen the long-term partnership between our countries. As we face threats to our peace and prosperity from autocratic states, it is vital that democracies and friends stick together.”

 

 

PM Johnson is scheduled to travel to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, on Apr 21, where he will be meeting officials from leading businesses. The discussion will aim at the thriving India-UK commercial, trade and social bond. While in Gujarat, PM Johnson is expected to announce major investment in key industries in both the UK and India. PM Johnson will travel to New Delhi on Apr 22 where he will further hold ‘bilateral consultations’ with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on range of issues.

 

According to recent reports, India will be raising the rising concerns of extradition of economic offenders like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and also about the increase in Khalistani threats. Both the nations will discuss their stands upon the issues.

 

 

 

 

 

One govt requesting another state to surrender a fugitive who has fled to their country seeking asylum, after committing a crime in the requesting country’s jurisdiction, is what 'extradition' refers to. Ever since 2013, around 5,000 - 6000 people from India have sought political asylum in the UK. Since UK is a signatory to the European Convention of Human Rights, it has to comply with denying extradition requests if any UK court deems that a person is likely to face life imprisonment or capital punishment upon extradition. This provides safe haven to economic offenders like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, raising serious concerns about the extradition policy of UK.

 

Earlier, in 2021, UK govt had allowed a pro-Khalistan organization Sikhs for Justice to hold a referendum on secession of Punjab. However, the Indian govt had conveyed serious concerns to UK for allowing the banned organization to hold the referendum. The India - UK relations were quite stressed after the pro - Khalistani incident. The Khalistan movement still exists effectively in the UK and tries to reach India through periodic threats. To keep a check on the balance between UK's legislation and that in India to tackle such severe issues, India has prioritized the two issues along with other subjects to be discussed with UK PM Boris Johnson.