New Delhi

Asserting that no form of extremism or violence is acceptable in the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that his government is working closely with the Indian government to particularly tackle pro-Khalistan extremism and it will not be tolerated.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Sunak also spoke about his sense of pride in his Indian roots and the FTA negotiations between the two countries.

Answering a question about concerns in India about activities of pro-Khalistani elements in Britain, the UK Prime Minster said the two countries have working groups to share intelligence and information so that this kind of violent extremism can be rooted out.

"It's a really important question and let me just say unequivocally that no form of extremism or violence like that is acceptable in the UK. And that's why we are working very closely with the Indian government to particularly tackle 'PKE' Pro-Khalistan Extremism,” Rishi Sunak told ANI.

“I don't think it's right. Our security Minister recently was just in India talking to his counterparts. We have working groups together to share intelligence and information so that we can root out this kind of violent extremism. It's not right and I won't tolerate it in the UK," he added.

The National Investigation Agency is probing the attack on Indian High Commission in London by pro-Khalistan elements in March this year. 

The anti-terror agency has registered a First Information Report (FIR) based on the orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and began its probe into the incident in which the Tricolour at the Indian high commission in London was pulled down. India had lodged strong protest with the UK over the incident. 

Rishi Sunak reached India earlier in the day to take part in the G20 Summit being held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. He is accompanied by his wife Akshata Murty. (ANI)

Expressing pride for his ‘Hindu’ roots, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his hope that he will find time to visit a temple, here in India, during his stay for the G20 Summit.

Sunak said that he has “enormous respect” for PM Modi and said that he is keen to support him in making G20 an enormous success.

He also spoke about celebrating ‘Raksha Bandhan’.

Speaking exclusively to ANI, Rishi Sunak said, “I am a proud Hindu. That’s how I was raised, that’s how I am. Hopefully, I can visit the Mandir while I am here for the next couple of days. We just had Rakshabandhan, so from my sister and my cousin, I have all my Rakhis.”

“I didn’t have time to celebrate Janmashtami. But hopefully, as I said I can make up for that if we visit a Mandir this time,” he added.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty meet the students during their visit to the British Council, in New Delhi.

He further said that faith is something very important as it gives strength and resilience during stress.

“It is something that is important to me. I think faith is something that helps everybody who has faith in their lives, particularly when you have these stressful jobs like I do. Having faith gives you resilience, gives you strength that is important and it provides an outlook on life which I find particularly valuable,” Sunak added.

On being asked about his equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sunak said, "Yes, and I have enormous respect for Modiji and he's been personally very warm and kind to me and we're working very hard as I said on our shared ambition of concluding an ambitious and comprehensive trade deal between India and the UK, because both of us think that would be a good thing and both of us need to make sure it works for our two countries."

"And at forums like this, I'm very keen to support Prime Minister Modi and making sure that this G20 is an enormous success for India which I know it will be and this has been a great year for India more generally," he added.

The UK PM also called his visit to India as ‘fantastic’ and said that he has enjoyed his first few hours here. 

“It is fantastic for me to be back in India. Obviously, it's personally very special for me to be here, particularly with Akshata, and we thoroughly enjoyed the first few hours of our trip so far,” he said.

He also recalled the days he used to spend time with his wife Akshata Murthy in Bangalore and expressed his desire to visit one of his favourite restaurants.

“Well you know obviously you know my wife is from Bangalore, we got married in Bangalore. We used to spend lots of time together before we had children in Delhi and were trying to figure out if we can go to one of our old favourite restaurants this evening,” Sunak said.

Expressing happiness on coming to India in his present role, Sunak said he is very proud to see India doing so well on the world stage.

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He added, “But look, it's personally incredibly special for me to be back in India. It is a country I love dearly, a country where my family are from. But to come here in this role to represent the UK, to find ways to forge closer links with India and play a part in making sure that India has an incredibly successful G20 and I'm very proud to see India doing so well on the world stage”.