UK defends BBC freedom, says investing heavily in relations with India

London: The UK government has defended the BBC as a media outlet “independent in its output” in the wake of widespread Indian diaspora protests against the controversial documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing reporters at Downing Street on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson echoed a statement issued by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in Parliament earlier this week to add that the government continues to invest in its relationship with India.
“The BBC is independent in its output and we would stress that we continue to regard India as an incredibly important international partner,” the spokesperson said in response to a question about India’s condemnation of the documentary India: The Modi Question’ questioning the then chief minister’s role in the 2002 Godhra riots.
“We will be investing heavily in our relationship with India over the coming decades and we’re confident it will only go from strength to strength,” the spokesperson said.
It followed a similar response by Cleverly in the House of Commons on Tuesday, when he responded to a question from a Conservative Party colleague on the assurances the UK government had given to India in the wake of coordinated diaspora protests against the BBC over the weekend.
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