I spoke to Jaishankar about the BBC issue: UK Foreign Secretary

New Delhi: British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley has said that he spoke to the Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar about the Income Tax Department raid conducted at the BBC offices in India.

UK Foreign Minister James Cleverley has arrived in India to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Conference. James Cleverley met Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar in the middle of the conference. At the time, it was reported that James Cleverly had asked Jaishankar about the Income Tax raids conducted last month at the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

“The UK Foreign Secretary raised the issue with the Indian Foreign Minister about the Income Tax department raids on the BBC offices,” a government source told The Hindu. He was also “emphatically informed that all UK companies operating in India must fully comply with Indian laws and regulations,” the government said.

Speaking to a news agency after this meeting, James Cleverly said, “I spoke to Jaishankar about the BBC issue. I informed that the BBC is independent and has no connection with the UK government,” he said.

After the BBC aired a two-part documentary against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, its offices were raided by the Income Tax Department. Subsequently, it is noted that all the members of Parliament expressed their displeasure to this test in the English Parliament.