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New Delhi. India has taken up with Australia the issue of demonstrations by pro-Khalistan elements outside its Honorary Consulate in Brisbane. Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said that after the demonstrations on Wednesday, the work in the consulate was stopped for some time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10 March raised with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese the issue of recent incidents of attacks on temples in Australia as well as pro-Khalistan activities in that country.
Albanese said the next day that he had assured his Indian counterpart Modi that Australia would not tolerate attacks on places of worship and that anyone responsible for such activities would face “the full rigor of the law”. Bagchi told a media briefing, “There is an Honorary Consulate and not the Consulate General of India. I understand that the protesters were in small numbers. There was some disturbance for some time. But it has not stopped.
Referring to some videos of the protest, he said, “The Honorary Consulate is functioning normally, providing essential services.” I would not like to comment on footage, especially video footage, which has not been confirmed. Bagchi said India has taken up the issue with the Australian authorities. Bagchi said, “We have taken it up with the government. You heard the Prime Minister raising this with the Australian Prime Minister. And whenever such incidents happen, we have been raising it on a regular basis. Unfortunately they have happened many times.
He said, ‘Our teams are in touch and that is why we were able to pick it up so quickly. I am not going into the composition or level of the teams, but they are in touch.” Asked about the so-called plebiscite by Khalistan supporters, he said, “As far as the so-called plebiscite is concerned, our views on it are very clear . What we are going to tell them, I am not going to mention again… We have informed our counterparts not only in Australia but also in other parts where such attempts have been made.
