San Francisco: The US has strongly condemned the reported vandalism and attempted arson against the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, which was briefly set in fire by alleged Khalistani extremists during early hours of Sunday. This incident occurred just months after a similar attack on the consulate in March.
A local channel, Diya TV, reported that the incident took place between 1:30 am and 2:30 am and the fire was quickly doused by the San Francisco fire department. A video, purportedly showing the building on fire, was also circulated by the channel.
ARSON ATTEMPT AT SF INDIAN CONSULATE: #DiyaTV has verified with @CGISFO @NagenTV that a fire was set early Sunday morning between 1:30-2:30 am in the San Francisco Indian Consulate. The fire was suppressed quickly by the San Francisco Department, damage was limited and no… pic.twitter.com/bHXNPmqSVm
— Diya TV – 24/7 * Free * Local (@DiyaTV) July 3, 2023
The damage was limited, and no Indian personnel was injured. The Indian side has already informed local, state and federal authorities about the attack, the ANI reported.
“Vandalism or violence against diplomatic facilities or foreign diplomats in the US is a criminal offence,” Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the US State Department, tweeted.
India had recently protested against posters linking Indian diplomats with the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and branding them as ‘killers in Toronto’ and asked Canada, the UK and the US not to give space to “extremist Khalistani ideology” as it is “not good” for relations. The 45-year-old Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief was reportedly killed in inter-gang warfare on July 19.
India had also slammed Canada after visuals surfaced on social media of a tableau in Brampton that reportedly celebrated the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
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