NEW DELHI: British Foreign Minister James Cleverly raised the issue of tax searches at the BBC’s Indian offices with his counterpart in New Delhi on Wednesday, according to the minister.
Cleverly was “firmly told that all entities operating in India must fully comply with relevant laws and regulations,” according to an Indian government source.
Last month, Indian tax authorities spent three days searching the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, cloning data from some senior employees’ digital devices.
Cleverly did not elaborate on his conversation with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, which took place ahead of a G20 meeting of foreign ministers on Thursday.
Began the morning with a bilateral meeting with Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly of the UK.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 1, 2023
Reviewed the progress in our relationship since our last discussion. Noted in particular the commencement of the Young Professional Scheme. pic.twitter.com/R3aUvX1U4Z
“The conversations I had with him are best kept between us. “I did bring it up,” he said in an interview.
“One of the advantages of having such a strong and professional relationship with Dr. Jaishankar is I am able to bring up, and indeed he brings up with me, some of these sensitive issues. I did raise it with him.” He did, however, state that the vast majority of the conversation was about positive bilateral work.