UK avoids diplomatic blunder, stops Khalistan supporter's nomination to House of Lords

The United Kingdom saved itself from a diplomatic face-off with India ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's scheduled visit to India after it took a Khalistani supporter off the list of House of Lords members in the last minute.

The Labour party had been, for some time, mulling over nominating Dabinderjit Singh Sidhu to the House of Lords. This even though Sidhu was actively associated with the International Sikh Youth Federation, which was banned in the UK till 2019 when then Home Secretary Theresa May un-proscribed it, and its offshoot Sikh Federation UK.

The International Sikh Youth Federation is still banned in India.

Sidhu, who works with the UK National Audit Office (equivalent to Comptroller and Auditor General in India), has been openly advocating for a separate Sikh state. He also received the Order of the British Empire for his work at the NAO. 

A Hindustan Times report cited a senior official as saying that Labour party leader Keir Starmer had not taken Sidhu off the list at the last minute, the appointment could have damaged UK's bilateral relations with India, soured the visit of Prime Minister Johnson and also thrown cold water over the new Labour leadership's desire to make amends with the Indian community.