Khalistan supporters try to disrupt diaspora event as PM Modi meets Joe Biden

A group of supporters of Khalistan separatist movement attempted to disrupt a diaspora event as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was holding his first-ever in-person summit with US President Joe Biden at the White House.

Waving yellow Khalistani flags and banners with anti-Modi messages, the small group confronted the Indian expat group.

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There were minor scuffles and exchange of slogans and local police had to intervene to break up the tussle.

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A number of Indian diaspora groups had gathered near the White House premises to greet Modi, including some colourful practitioners of Indian dance form Kuchupudi.

The carnival atmosphere was vitiated with the appearance of the pro-Khalistan crowd.

Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement that had been demanding a state on specific piece of land that currently houses the state of Punjab in India. The movement had been active since the 1980s and several "Khalistani sympathisers" are spread across the Sikh diaspora including in the UK, Canada, Europe and the US. Sympathisers of the movement were responsible for the assassination of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, which was preceded by the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab by Indian security forces, and followed by communal riots in Delhi. They were also behind the bombing of the Air India flight Kanishka in 1985, one of the largest terror attacks.

Meanwhile, the US President thanked the Indian diaspora for adding on to the success of the US."Every day, four million Indian-Americans strengthen the United States," Biden told Modi.

The two leaders met in the Oval Office of the White House where they talked about several topics such as climate change, Indo-Pacific region,economic cooperation, coronavirus pandemic and more.