Sunak has roots in India and has been an advocate of UK-India relations from the beginning. A BBC documentary claims that the British government knew about an Indian leader’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Terming the BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots as “a piece of propaganda”, India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said it clearly reflected bias, lack of objectivity and a colonial mindset.
Part of the BBC documentary ‘Disinformation’
Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, while answering questions from reporters in New Delhi on the documentary, said that it is a part of disinformation to push a particular ‘false narrative’. Sunak was asked whether he agreed with the claims made in the BBC documentary that some diplomats in the UK Foreign Office knew that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi was directly responsible”.
Pakistani-origin MP raised the issue
In response, Sunak said he did not agree with the “characterization” of Prime Minister Modi by opposition Labor Party MP Imran Hussain of Pakistani origin. Significantly, this documentary is on the riots in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of the state. “The British government’s position in this regard is clear and it has not changed at all,” Sunak said. The issue was raised in the UK Parliament by Imran Hussain, a British MP of Pakistani origin and asked Rishi Sunak’s views on it.
