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Urging the British government to support India, Priti Patel said, “I recognise that for India and the communities in the UK in particular, this has been a really difficult week.”
UK MP Priti Patel
Indian-origin UK MP Priti Patel condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people, calling it an “act of terrorism”. Urging the British government to support India, Priti Patel said in the UK Parliament, “I recognise that for India and the communities in the UK in particular, this has been a really difficult week. This was an act of terrorism and we should call it out for exactly for what it is. And it is part of a long-standing pattern of attacks on civilians, visitors to the region and also minority communities.”
She continued, “We have a series of long-standing security and counterterrorism partnerships with India going back to the New Delhi Declaration in 2002 and the India-UK Strategic Partnership in 2016, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced in 2022, and the UK India 2030 roadmap agreed under the last government. So, under that, security arrangements have been absolutely watertight, which is why we must always be in lockstep with our friends in India.”
Questioning the UK government over what information it has on those responsible for carrying out the terrorist attacks, Priti Patel said, “Does the government believe the LeT, the terrorist group proscribed in the UK, bears responsibility, or is the government aware of any cross-border links to Pakistan of the perpetrators of this terrorist act? We know the Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, but has the UK provided any specific support in response to this terror attack and taken any practical steps to assist our friends in India?”
“Has the Government got a view on whether this is a coincidence or does it demonstrate a pattern of targeted and deliberately timed attacks?” she asked.
She also sought assurances regarding the UK government’s assessment of potential links between groups destabilizing Kashmir and those threatening global peace, including potential connections to Hamas as she asked about security measures being taken within the UK to prevent escalating tensions, including the protection of the Indian High Commission.
- Location :
London, United Kingdom (UK)
- First Published:
