New Delhi: The issue is a “matter of concern” and “contrary” to Indian government policy, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Thursday while commenting on an unsealed indictment filed by the US Department of Justice in a federal court in Manhattan.
The indictment alleges that an “Indian government employee” was involved in a plot to murder Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
In the indictment, unsealed Wednesday, the US Justice Department also slapped murder-for-hire charges on US-based Indian national Nikhil Gupta who is accused of entering into a “$100,000” deal with the “Indian government employee” to facilitate the murder of Pannun — the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a banned organisation in India.
“As regards the case against an individual that has been filed in a US court, allegedly linking him to an Indian official — this is a matter of concern. This is also contrary to government policy,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a press briefing Thursday.
The previous day, Bagchi had said that India set up a “high-level” enquiry committee on 18 November to probe “all relevant aspects of the matter”. The government, he added, will take necessary follow-up action based on the findings of the committee.
During the press briefing Thursday, the MEA spokesperson declined to provide any information on “inputs” provided by Washington on the matter. “We cannot share any further information on such security matters,” he told reporters.
He added: “During the course of discussions with the US on bilateral security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to a nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and extremists. We take such inputs seriously and a high-level enquiry committee has been constituted to look into all relevant aspects of the matter. Necessary follow-up action will be taken based on the findings of the enquiry committee.”
The MEA has not specified when this meeting with US officials took place. Earlier this month, Indian and American foreign and defence ministers met in Delhi for the 2+2 dialogue.
Pannun, who is at the centre of this alleged plot, was declared a terrorist by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2020.
‘Canada giving space to anti-India elements’
The unsealing of the indictment came against the backdrop of a diplomatic spat between India and Canada, spurred by Ottawa’s allegation that ‘Indian agents’ were involved in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar was a Canadian citizen who was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, in June this year.
After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first made the allegation in the House of Commons on 18 September, both countries expelled each other’s senior diplomats in a tit-for-tat measure. This was followed by Canada withdrawing 41 diplomats from India earlier this month, in response to New Delhi’s request for “parity” in diplomatic rank and strength.
On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his foreign minister Melanie Joly also commented on the indictment filed by the US Justice Department.
“The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we’ve been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.
Asked to comment on Trudeau’s remarks, the MEA spokesperson said Thursday: “They (Canada) have consistently given space to anti-India extremists and violence. That is actually the heart of the issue. Our diplomatic reps in Canada have borne the brunt of this.”
“We expect the government of Canada to live up to its obligations under the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations. We’ve also seen interference by Canadian diplomats in our internal affairs and that is obviously unacceptable,” Bagchi added.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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