New Delhi: India on Tuesday said it has sought information from the UK on the claims that Margaret Thatcher`s government may have helped Indira Gandhi plan Operation Bluestar in 1984.
"We have seen these reports in newspapers. We have sought information from the UK government in this regard and without factual information I cannot comment further," MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
Reports siggested that recently declassified documents in the UK indicated that Britain`s Special Air Service (SAS) officials had been dispatched to help India in the planning on the raid of the Golden Temple to flush out militants from the shrine, an operation that left more than 1,000 people dead.
The documents being referenced were released by the National Archives in London under the 30-year declassification rule as part of a series over the New Year.
A "top secret and personal" letter, dated February 23, 1984, nearly four months before the raid in Amritsar, and titled "Sikh Community", stated: "The Indian authorities recently sought British advice over a plan to remove Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
"The Foreign Secretary decided to respond favourably to the Indian request and, with the Prime Minister`s agreement, an SAD (sic) officer has visited India and drawn up a plan which has been approved by Mrs Gandhi. The Foreign Secretary believes that the Indian Government may put the plan into operation shortly".
The British government has already asked the Cabinet Secretary to establish the facts behind these claims.
