The Congress Monday condemned the pulling down of the national flag at the Indian High Commission in London by pro-Khalistan elements, saying the British government must be held accountable as it has "failed miserably" in its basic responsibility.

The tricolour flying atop the Indian High Commission in London was grabbed by a group of protesters waving separatist Khalistani flags and chanting pro-Khalistan slogans on Sunday, leading to an arrest.

Reacting to the incident, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "The pulling down of the national flag at the Indian High Commission in London by pro-Khalistani elements is totally unacceptable and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms." "The British Government has failed miserably in its most basic responsibility and must be held accountable," he asserted.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor urged the government to take up the security of Indian missions with host countries to ensure that incidents like the one in the UK do not take place.

Asked about the incident, Tharoor said, "I am deeply disappointed when I see that a friendly government does not take elementary police precautions to ensure that this kind of behaviour is not happening." "We already have an attack in Australia, now we have had an attack in London... are we going to allow this to happen everywhere? Our government should now go to all the host governments where there is such a possibility -- Australia, Canada, the US, and the UK -- and tell them that they must take extra special precautions outside our missions. It is our responsibility to demand it and then it is the diplomatic responsibility of those governments to provide it," Tharoor told reporters outside Parliament.

The host countries must take necessary measures "to ensure that our honour is not insulted in this way", the former minister of state for external affairs said. This is something that is not acceptable to any Indian, he added.

India on Sunday night summoned the British deputy high commissioner and demanded an explanation over the complete "absence of security" after videos of pulling down of the Indian flag at the Indian mission in London during a protest by pro-Khalistan elements emerged on social media.

Top British officials have said that the UK government will take the security of the Indian High Commission here "seriously", as they condemned as "disgraceful" and "completely unacceptable" the vandalism at the Indian mission by a group of protesters waving separatist Khalistani flags.

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