India summons British high commissioner over remarks on agricultural reform laws

India today summoned the British High Commissioner in New Delhi to express its "strong opposition" to the "unwarranted and tendentious discussion" on agricultural reform laws which has sparked farmers' protests in the country.

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla "summoned the British High Commissioner and conveyed strong opposition to the unwarranted and tendentious discussion on agricultural reforms in India in the British Parliament," the Indian External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

India's top diplomat made it clear that "this represented a gross interference in the politics of another democratic country."

He advised that British lawmakers to "refrain from practising vote bank politics by misrepresenting events, especially in relation to another fellow democracy," according to the statement.

A group of British lawmakers debated "use of force" in farmers protest on the border with Delhi, drawing a sharp push-back from the Indian High Commission in London.

The farmers from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are camping at three points at the border with Delhi for more than 100 days in protest against three contentious farm sector reform laws and demanding legal guarantee for minimum support price for crops.