iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was in the US to attend the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump on Monday, January 20, said New Delhi is expecting accountability for the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco in 2023.
The EAM made the comment following his meeting with new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, January 22.
Responding to a question at a press conference in Washington, DC, Jaishankar said, “The arson attack on our consulate in San Francisco is a very, very serious matter, and it is something for which we expect accountability. We would like to see that people who did it are held responsible.”
The Consulate General of India in San Francisco was attacked by a group of assailants in March 2023. The intruders had committed criminal trespass, damaged public property, and attacked officials of the Consulate.
Speaking to the press in Washington DC.
https://t.co/DJsRaAyXAJ— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 22, 2025
Some attackers had also tried to set the Consulate building on fire on the same day with the use of some inflammable substances.
Protesters were seen breaking through the makeshift security barriers while raising pro-Khalistan slogans and even installing two Khalistan flags inside the Consulate premises.
Around three months later, again in July, violent Khalistan activists attacked and sought to burn down the Indian consulate in San Francisco.
The incident, though, did not cause any damage inside the premises of the diplomatic building, it was the second time that Khalistan activists made the SF consulate a target.
At the time, the attack was brought to the attention of the highest rung of American national security and diplomatic apparatus in Washington, DC, which instructed agencies to immediately investigate the incident and heighten security.
India had made it clear that it wanted to see action in the matter, and not just sympathy. It wanted arrests of those involved in these incidents and pre-emptive measures by the U.S. authorities to stop any such attacks in the future.
The local San Francisco police department, special diplomatic security personnel, and state and federal authorities were notified and they launched a probe into the July incident thereafter.
The incident was strongly condemned by the U.S., which called it a “criminal offence”.
