New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hit out at the United Kingdom after an Indian scholar faced racism and cyber bullying at the esteemed Oxford University. The Union minister was responding to concerns raised by a BJP MP over racism and cyberbullying that forced Indian-origin Rashmi Samant to resign from the president's post of the Oxford University Student's Union.

Acknowledging India's strong ties with the UK, Jaishankar, while speaking in Parliament, said that India will monitor the developments very closely. “We will raise it when required and we will always champion the fight against racism and other forms of intolerance,” he said.
Samant was, reportedly, the first Indian woman to be elected as the president of the Oxford University Student's Union. She had won the election in February, bagging 1,966 out of a possible 3,708 votes, and was due to begin in June.

Odisha BJP MP Ashwini Vaishnaw expressed "shared global concerns about racism". He said that there "appears to be a continuation of attitudes and prejudices from the colonial area especially in the United Kingdom".

"I note the sentiments of the House," the EAM said in Rajya Sabha. "I do want to say that as a land of Mahatma Gandhi, we can never ever turn our eyes away from racism wherever it is. Particularly so when it is in a country where we have such a large diaspora," he added.

Jaishankar's remarks came after India summoned British High Commissioner over an "unwarranted discussion" in the British Parliament on agricultural reforms in India.

Informing the UK about governments action on the issue, MEA said, “Foreign Secretary summoned the British High Commissioner and conveyed strong opposition to the unwarranted and tendentious discussion on agricultural reforms in India in the British Parliament.”