NEW DELHI: Several Sikh families of Bangkok had to suffer harassment at the hands of the Thailand police on the eve of Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s slate visit. Offices and houses of three Sikh businessmen were searched but nothing objectionable was found. The Thai Consulate suspected these families of links with the Khalistan movement in Punjab. Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai admitted that Rao’s security posed his government a bit of worry. The government had even stopped certain Sikhs Visiting Thailand on the eve of Rao’s visit. The Thai media was full of coverage projecting security problems in the wake of Indian prime minister’s visit. Most people in Thailand were conveyed an impression by the media that India was about to break up as it faced all kinds of groups out to topple the Indian government. In the face of this adverse propaganda, the Indian prime minister’s calls to Thai businessmen to invest in India must have fallen flat on them.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 16, 1993
