Indian P.M. confronted by angry protesters in Downing Street

Hundreds of demonstrators shout ‘Narendra Modi go home’ & "Modi Not Welcome in London" as controversial leader arrives in London for talks with David Cameron

Narendra Modi was greeted by noisy protests outside Downing Street as he arrived for talks with David Cameron.

Several hundred demonstrators representing Gujarati, Sikh, Tamil, Kashmiri, Nepali and women’s groups chanted ”Modi go home” and “David Cameron shame shame” as the Indian prime minister was welcomed at about lunchtime on Thursday.

Modi, a Hindu nationalist who was elected after a landslide victory last year, was banned from the UK, US, and several European countries until 2012 after anti-Muslim riots a decade earlier in Gujarat, in which thousands died. Modi was state governor at the time and, while he has strongly denied any involvement in the unrest, he faced severe criticism for failing to do more to intervene.

Amnesty International and other rights groups have accused his government of fostering a climate that has encouraged growing religious violence, and permitting wider human rights abuses.

Many of the several hundred protesters in Whitehall cited the 2002 riots as the reason they were demonstrating, but others raised issues of human rights, protection for women in India and accusations of injustice against Tamils, Dalits and other religious and ethnic minorities.

A delegation of Sikh protesters waved black flags and accused Modi of genocide in a provocative banner that also bore an image of Hitler. Dabinderjit Singh, principal adviser of the Sikh Federation (UK), said: “People genuinely fear the direction Narendra Modi is taking the country in terms of the impact on religious and ethnic minorities. What happens to the hundreds of millions of Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and he Dalit community in India? Where will we go?”

“We think that Britain inviting Modi here is showing support for the human rights abuses against women in India,’ said Camille Rouse, of the Newham Asian Women’s Project, which works with victims of “honor-based” violence in east London.

She said Modi had done nothing to challenge abuses against women in India. “He just looks the other way while women are being abused.”

Damar Ghale, a former president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, urged Britain not to sign trade deals with Modi while India implemented what he described as an illegal blockade of Nepal. “Britain has made its decision to invite him, but we are here to ensure he hears us and knows what is happening in Nepal.”

A smaller group of fewer than 50 pro-Modi demonstrators, kept at a distance by police, waved Indian flags and chanted “welcome Modi”. One of those supporting the prime minister, Shri Jayu Shah, of the Friends of India Society, said: “People should respect that India is a democratic nation and he was elected by the people of India. That gives him every right to be here.” Modi, he added, “is the one who is going to take India out of poverty”.

The Indian prime minister can expect a warmer welcome on Friday, when 60,000 members of the Indian diaspora will pack into Wembley stadium for a rock star reception and fireworks display at which he will be greeted onstage by Cameron.