‘Don’t want to import politics’: New Zealand PM on India’s concerns about pro-Khalistan groups

Responding to concerns expressed by India about pro-Khalistan diaspora groups in New Zealand, the country’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Wednesday that his country was a “liberal democracy” and that he did not want to “import politics” into its immigrant community, The Hindu reported.

Khalistan is a proposed independent state for Sikhs sought by some groups.

“New Zealand is increasingly a multicultural country,” Luxon said during an interview to The Hindu when asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks that he expected Wellington to clamp down on “illegal activities” by anti-Indian elements in his country. “But we don’t want to import politics from overseas.”

Luxon is the chief guest at the Raisina Dialogue, an annual multilateral conference on geopolitics and geo-economics in New Delhi. The prime minister met with Modi on Monday to announce a defence agreement and begin discussing a trade agreement.

Modi and Luxon also delivered a joint address and noted their shared concerns about terrorism, the Hindustan Times reported. Citing terrorist attacks in both countries, Modi said that all such forms of violence were unacceptable.

“Strict action is necessary against terror perpetrators,” the Hindustan Times quoted Modi as saying. “We will work together against terrorist, separatist and extremist elements. We have shared our concern regarding anti-India activities in New Zealand. We are sure we will keep getting the...

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