IWF condemns attempts by 'anti-India forces' to target Indian missions

Indian World Forum on Tuesday said it has condemned attempts by "anti-India forces", including Khalistani activists, to target Indian diplomatic missions and its diaspora community abroad.

India's consulate in San Francisco came under an attack from Khalistan supporters who tried to set the diplomatic facility on fire in the second such act of violence within months, drawing strong condemnation from the US government which termed it a "criminal offence".

A video by Khalistan supporters, dated July 2 posted on Twitter, showed the act of arson at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.

The IWF, in a statement, alleged that Indian diplomats in Canada, the UK and the US face threat from "Khalistani radicals".

The IWF strongly condemns the attempts to target Indian diplomatic missions in these countries by "anti-India forces, including Khalistani activists, in collusion with foreign agencies", it said in a statement.

The Indian diaspora has always been law-abiding and contributed to the economic growth of the nation where they have settled, the Forum said.

The IWF urges the governments in Canada, the UK and the US "act seriously against such nefarious agents, including Khalistanis", and to ensure safety of Indian diaspora living there.

"At the same time, I also urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government to seek immediate extradition of all the anti-India elements, including Khalistani terrorists overseas," IWF president Puneet Singh Chandhok was quoted as saying in the statement.

Canada has assured India of the safety of its diplomats following the circulation of Khalistani posters online which named Indian officials and termed the promotional material circulating ahead of a Khalistan rally "unacceptable".

The statement by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly came a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India has asked its partner countries such as Canada, the UK and the US not to give space to "extremist Khalistani ideology" as it is "not good" for relations.

Stressing Canada's commitment to the safety of diplomats, Joly highlighted the country's adherence to the Vienna Convention.