London, Oct. 5: Although the British army has Irish Guards and Scots Guards, it had decided not to set up a separate Sikh regiment, the government has announced.

Speaking at the Conservative party conference, currently under way in Birmingham, the secretary of state for defence, Sir Michael Fallon, said he wanted to recruit more Indians and other members of the ethnic minorities so that they make up at least 10 per cent of the armed forces.

"Sikhs, of course, as you know, make great soldiers and were a great part of our army in the past," he said. "There may be other ways in which we can encourage Sikhs into our armed forces, but I'm not going down the route of an entirely separate Sikh regiment."

The idea that there should be such a regiment had come from the Sikhs themselves.

Fallon's decision was described as "totally wrong" by Rami Ranger, the chairman of the British Sikh Association, who took a party of his members in July to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

This is the British army's training centre in Camberley, Surrey, where the portraits and battle honours reflect the UK's special relationship with Indian soldiers and especially the Sikhs.

Ranger told The Telegraph that senior British army officers, including generals, were "warm" to the idea of a Sikh regiment.

He was among leaders of the community who had pushed the idea of a Sikh regiment, pointing out: "It was the British themselves who set up Sikh regiments. People who have so much in common inspire each other."

In his opinion, individual Sikhs were unlikely to be attracted to the idea of joining the armed forces "for fear of racism - one lone Sikh among 200 or 300 other people would feel isolated".

There was also the risk that a lone Sikh would be targeted wrongly as "a member of the Taliban - we want people to know the truth about Sikhs".

Ranger had found favour for the idea of a Sikh regiment with the army top brass and also with previous Tory defence ministers - Mark Francois and Sir Nicholas Soames - who had served under David Cameron.

In February 2015, for example, Francois had confirmed that the head of the army was examining plans for the return of a Sikh regiment and also a reserve company.

Francois had said the idea of a Sikh regiment "may well have merit" as MPs backed it, while Soames urged ministers to "do away with political correctness" and press ahead with it.

Everyone is agreed that the number of Indians in the armed forces should be increased.

Fallon said: "The armed forces have to better reflect the society that they're charged with protecting. I want more women, more from black and Asian communities."

"We have to get to about 10 per cent and today we're just under six per cent at the moment and I want to see that driven up in each of the services and they've all now got individual programmes as to how they're going to meet that particular target," he went on.

But he added: "What I'm wary of is any kind of segregation that would set up particular units that are for one religion and another religion. I'm a little wary of that."

But Sikhs pointed out that the British had no such qualms during the First and Second World Wars when Sikh regiments made the difference in various battles.

Ranger admitted he was "disappointed but I won't give up" .