San Francisco, Jul 15: Scores of Indian-Americans held a peace rally in front of the Indian Consulate here to express solidarity with India following a recent attempted arson at the diplomatic facility by Khalistan supporters.
A video by Khalistan supporters, dated July 2 posted on Twitter, showed the act of arson at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. It was the second such act of violence within months.
The protesters described it as an act of terrorism and demanded that those responsible for violence be brought to justice.
India’s Ambassador to the U.S., Mr. Taranjit Singh Sandhu visited the Consulate here on July 13, and met Indian diplomats and officials at the mission.
India has asked its partner countries such as Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. not to give space to “extremist Khalistani ideology” as it is “not good” for bilateral relations.
The “radical, extremist Khalistani ideology” is not good for India or its partner countries such as the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in New Delhi early this month.
On March 19, a group of pro-Khalistan protesters attacked and damaged the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.
Raising pro-Khalistan slogans, the protesters broke open the makeshift security barriers raised by the city police and installed two so-called Khalistani flags inside the Consulate premises. Two consulate personnel soon removed those flags. (Agencies)
