New Delhi: The White House on Wednesday said that it had raised concerns with “senior-most levels” in the Indian government about alleged involvement in a ultimately failed plot to assassinate a Khalistani separatist in the United States, with expectation that New Delhi will ensure accountability.
The US administration’s statement came after the Financial Times had first reported that Washington had “thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate a Sikh separatist on American soil and issued a warning to India’s government over concerns it was involved in the plot”.
“We are treating this issue with utmost seriousness, and it has been raised by the U.S. Government with the Indian Government, including at the senior-most levels. Indian counterparts expressed surprise and concern,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement, according to AP.
“They stated that activity of this nature was not their policy. Based on discussion with senior U.S. government officials, we understand the Indian government is further investigating this issue and will have more to say about it in the coming days. We have conveyed our expectation that anyone deemed responsible should be held accountable,” the statement added.
While not referring to a US protest, India’s foreign ministry issued a statement hours after the publication of the report admitting that Washington “shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others”, which was being investigated by Indian authorities.
The UK newspaper wrote that the target was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is ‘general counsel’ for Sikhs for Justice, a US-based group that has been proscribed as a terror organisation by India. He was recently charged by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) for threatening Sikhs to avoid flying on Air India. He had also threatened to prevent Air India from operating across the world.
The paper, citing multiple sources, said that it was not clear whether the protest to New Delhi led the plotters to abandon their plan, or whether the FBI intervened and thwarted a scheme already in motion.
The article said that the US warning was issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in June.
The US also “informed some allies about the plot following the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist killed in Vancouver in June”.
The article has also claimed that US federal prosecutors have filed a sealed indictment against at least one alleged perpetrator of the plot in a New York district court.
“The US justice department is debating whether to unseal the indictment and make the allegations public or wait until Canada finishes its investigation into Nijjar’s murder. Further complicating the case, one person charged in the indictment is believed to have left the US, according to people familiar with the proceedings,” said the FT article.
The article noted that the US Justice Department and FBI refused to comment.
The US National Security Council told FT that the US does “not comment on ongoing law enforcement matters or private diplomatic discussions with our partners”, but added: “Upholding the safety and security of US citizens is paramount.”
When asked about the Financial Times report, the spokesperson of the US embassy in India repeated the NSC’s response. “We do not comment on diplomatic, law enforcement, or intelligence discussions with our partners,” he said.
In a response issued late on Wednesday night, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi did not address the issue that the US had lodged a protest, but also noted that the Americans had shared “inputs” and that New Delhi was cooperating on the matter.
“During the course of recent discussions on India-US security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others. The inputs are a cause of concern for both countries and they decided to take necessary follow up action,” stated Bagchi.
He also stated that India takes “such inputs seriously since it impinges on our own national security interests as well”. “Issues in the context of US inputs are already being examined by relevant departments,” added Bagchi.
Earlier in September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” pointing towards the involvement of the Government of India agents in the killing of Nijjar. India had dismissed those allegations as “biased” and “motivated”.
Both countries expelled a senior diplomat each in a tit-for-tat measure. But, India went further asking for parity in diplomatic representation, which led Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats. Additionally, India paused visa services for Canadian nationals, which were only restarted two months later.
The Indian response to the FT article, admitting that “inputs” had been received from the US and were being “examined”, is in stark contrast to New Delhi’s belligerent retaliation to Canada.
While the US had shared details of the Pannun case with “some allies” after Nijjar’s killing in June, Washington widened the circle to more countries after Trudeau went public, which “sparked concern among allies about a possible pattern of behaviour”.
The US has consistently asked India to join the Canadian investigation, with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken having raised it last week during his visit to New Delhi. The US ambassador to Canada David Cohen had also said that information received from the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence sharing network had contributed to Trudeau going public.
“Several people familiar with the debate inside the Biden administration said officials were aware that any public disclosure of the US plot, and Washington’s protest to New Delhi, would renew questions about India’s reliability as a trusted partner,” said the FT article.