US condemns attack on Indian consulate in San Francisco

President Joe Biden’s administration in Washington D.C. condemned the pro-Khalistani Sikh activists’ attack on the Consulate General of India in San Francisco in the United States.

After the Government of India lodged its strong protest over the incident with the US embassy in New Delhi and the US Department of State in Washington D.C., the White House condemned it and called it “unacceptable”.

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“We condemn the acts of violence against the Indian Consulate in San Francisco,” Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, tweeted. “We are committed to the safety and security of these facilities and the diplomats who work within them. The State Department is in touch with local law enforcement on next steps in this matter.”

India had on Monday lodged a strong protest with the US over vandalisation of its consulate in San Francisco by pro-Khalistani Sikh activists. Elizabeth Jones, the Charge d’Affaires of the US embassy in New Delhi, had been summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), where senior officials had conveyed to her the concerns of India over the attack on its consulate in San Francisco. She had been reminded of the basic obligation of the US Government to protect and secure diplomatic representation.

A group of pro-Khalistani Sikh activists had stormed into the Consulate General of India in San Francisco on Sunday (Monday in India). They had waved the flags of Khalistan, raised slogans slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and condemning the crackdown by the security agencies on the extremists and separatist elements in Punjab in India. The protesters had breached the makeshift security barriers raised by the city police and briefly hoisted two Khalistani flags inside the premises of the consulate. They had also damaged the door and windows of the consulate with iron rods.

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They had also spray-painted graffiti on the wall that read: “Free Amritpal”.

The police in Punjab in India of late launched a manhunt for radical preacher Amritpal Singh, although he could not be arrested so far. Singh is leading the Waris de Punjab, an organization allegedly trying to revive the movement for carving out Khalistan from India.

“That vandalism, it's just absolutely unacceptable," John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for strategic communications at the White House, told journalists during the briefing. “I can't speak for the San Francisco police, but I can say that the diplomatic security service is working with local authorities to properly investigate and obviously, the State Department is going to be working from an infrastructure perspective to repair the damage, but it's unacceptable," Kirby said in response to a question from a journalist.

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The attack by the Khalistani Sikh activists on the Consulate General of India in San Francisco followed similar vandalism on the High Commission of India in London on Sunday.

A group of Indians living in the United Kingdom on Tuesday assembled in front of the High Commission of India in London and waved the national tricolour, condemning the vandalism by the Khalistanis.

The office of the honorary Consul General of India at Brisbane in Australia was also recently attacked by the Khalistanis.

Indiaspora in a statement condemned the violence and vandalism at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. “We hope our friends at the consulate and our community in the Bay Area are safe and that swift action is taken by law enforcement,” it said.