INDIA NEWS

             On October 8, 2001, the Acting High Commissioner of India, Mr. Debabrata Saha, hosted a Reception in honour of the Conservative Parliamentary Friends of India (CPFIN) on the fringes of the Conservative Party’s Annual Conference in Blackpool.   The Reception was attended by several senior members of the Conservative Party, including the Rt. Hon Michael Ancram, Deputy Leader of the Party and Shadow Foreign Secretary, and prominent members of the British Indian community. 

            In his welcome remarks, the Acting High Commissioner referred to the ongoing battle against international terrorism and recalled India’s own experience of combating  cross-border terrorism for almost two decades in which some 53000 Indians had been killed. He referred to the heinous suicide car bomb attack against the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly building in Srinagar on October 1 which had resulted in the death of 38 innocent civilians and said that this atrocity clearly demonstrated that the fight against terrorism could not be limited to Al Qaeda and Bin Laden alone. The Acting High Commissioner also invited CPFIN to consider sending a delegation to India to view first hand the functioning of the world’s largest democracy. 

            In his address, the Rt Hon Michael Ancram referred to India and the UK as “two great democracies which have much in common.” Describing the attack against the Legislative Building in Srinagar as “a classic attack of terrorism on democracy”, he said India and the UK had “a shared interest in combating terrorism which is the enemy of freedom”. He also cautioned against making any distinction between “good terrorism and bad terrorism”.  If the international community was serious about eradicating terrorism, it would have to deal with it everywhere and not just in Afghanistan, he said. 

            Special Adviser to Party Leader Iain Duncan Smith and a member of the European Parliament, Mr. Nirj Deva, said that the UK had been steadfast in supporting India’s democracy and its fight against terrorism in Kashmir. 

            Mr. Andrew Lansley, MP, said the Tories took their “relationship with the largest democracy in the world at heart”. He said “The economic success of India in recent times is a tremendous inspiration” and called for the establishment of stronger links with India in the business and economic spheres. 

            Dr. Prem Sharma, the founder patron of CPFIN spoke of the Conservative Party’s long standing links with India and the importance of the formation of CPFIN. 

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