A bust of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in Italy by Khalistani extremists on Wednesday just hours after its inauguration. The accused also wrote controversial slogans related to slain Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar at the base of the bust.
After the incident, the local authorities said that the area was cleaned up in "record time".
The incident happened a day before the G7 Summit in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also participate.
The 50th G7 Summit will be held in the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Italy's Apulia region from June 13 to 15. According to Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, PM Modi will be travelling to Italy's Apulia tomorrow to participate in the summit at the invite of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Speaking about the incident, Foreign Secretary Kwatra said that the Indian authorities raised the matter of Mahatma Gandhi's status being vandalised before Italian officials.
"Taken up the issue of vandalisation of Mahatma Gandhi's statue with the Italian authorities. Necessary action has been taken," he said, while speaking to the media on Wednesday.
Earlier last year, in a similar incident, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised at a university campus in Canada's British Columbia province by Khalistan extremists.
