India has summoned the United Kingdom’s High Commissioner in Delhi over what it called “unwarranted and tendentious discussion” of Indian agricultural reforms in the British parliament.
Monday’s debate was called after a public petition received more than 100,000 signatures on the parliament website.
Three new agricultural laws introduced by India late last year have led to months of protests by farmers.
MPs from the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Labour expressed concerns over the way police in Delhi have handled the protests, which have been continuing on the outskirts of the capital for more than 100 days.
While the protests have generally been peaceful, police have been accused of using excessive force in clashes with demonstrators, shutting down internet access in areas where protesters are camped out and arresting journalists covering the agitation.
In a statement, issued on Tuesday, the Indian government called the debate “a gross interference in the politics of another democratic country”.
An earlier statement from India’s High Commission in the UK called the debate “one-sided”. “We deeply regret that rather than a balanced debate, false assertions – without substantiation or facts – were made, casting aspersions on the largest functioning democracy in the world and its institutions,” it said.
