36 cross-party parliamentarians have urged UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to engage in a discourse with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, about the impact on British Punjabis who have been severely affected due to the ongoing farmers' protests against the new farm laws in India.
According to the PTI, the letter, issued on Friday, has been drafted by British Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and signed by other Indian-origin MPs including Labour's Virendra Sharma, Seema Malhotra and Valerie Vaz as well as former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn.
"This is a joint letter calling for representation to be made by yourself to your Indian counterpart about the impact on British Sikhs and Punjabis, with longstanding links to land and farming in India," reads the letter
"This is an issue of particular concern to Sikhs in the UK and those linked to Punjab, although it also heavily impacts on other Indian states. Many British Sikhs and Punjabis have taken this matter up with their MPs, as they are directly affected with family members and ancestral land in Punjab," it reads.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava was quoted saying in the PTI report, "We have seen some ill-informed comments relating to farmers in India. Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country. It is also best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes."
