New Delhi: India has received consular access to its national Nikhil Gupta — currently lodged in the Czech Republic and wanted by the US in connection with an alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — at least three times and is “extending necessary assistance to him as per requirement”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Thursday.
It also hit out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for claiming that there has been “a tonal shift” in its stance with Canada following the US indictment and made it clear that position remained consistent.
Addressing his weekly press conference, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi spoke about the Gupta case.
“The Indian national is currently in the custody of the Czech Republic pending an extradition request from the US. We have received consular access, at least I am aware of three occasions. We are extending necessary assistance to the individual as per requirement,” he said.
U.S. federal authorities have accused Gupta of plotting to kill Pannun and are investigating whether Gupta was aided by an Indian government employee in the alleged plot.
Last week, all five serving Indian-American members of the US Congress, dubbed the “Samosa Caucus”, attended a secret briefing by the US administration regarding the alleged plot to murder Pannun. They later warned that unless India holds those responsible for the crime accountable, it could cause “significant damage” to the “very consequential” India-US bilateral partnership.
The MEA spokesperson acknowledged the statement from the US Congress members, adding: “We take the inputs provided by the US side seriously.”
Meanwhile, he argued that India’s position regarding allegations pertaining to the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil has been “consistent”.
This comes a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said India’s ties with Canada may have undergone “a tonal shift” following a US indictment that claimed an Indian national was involved in a foiled plot to assassinate Pannun on American soil.
“Whether they have noted a shift or not, certainly our position has remained consistent. We would hope that they would take action on such extremist elements that are misusing the freedom of speech and expression in their country,” the MEA spokesperson said.
Speaking to reporters, he added: “Our position has been quite consistent and whenever this has been raised, we’ve highlighted how we see the problem. The core issue remains — the space given to extremists, terrorist and anti-Indian elements in that country…”
India is engaged in a diplomatic row with Canada over accusations from Ottawa that New Delhi was involved in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a gurudwara in British Columbia in June.
The MEA spokesperson also hit out at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) which had last Friday called on the Joe Biden-led US administration to designate India as a country of particular concern in light of these allegations and on account of “severe religious freedom violations”.
He described USCIRF as “motivated and biased” against India.
“You’re all aware of their motivated and biased approach towards India. We’ve seen it a number of times in the past. I would not like to give their comments any weight or consideration,” he told reporters.
‘No talks on Indian workers going to Israel’
According to the Israel Prime Minister’s Office, Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a phone call Tuesday where they discussed “advancing” the arrival of foreign workers from India to Israel. But a week prior, in reply to a parliamentary question, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan had said: “The government has not made any discussions with Israel regarding possible replacement of Palestinian labourers with Indian workers.”
Asked for a clarification, the MEA spokesperson upheld the Indian government’s response to the parliamentary question, and said it does not contradict the Israeli readout of the two leaders’ phone call.
“What we said in Parliament stands…There have been no discussions with Israel regarding possible replacement of Palestinian labourers with Indian workers. That statement stands and I have nothing to clarify on that,” he said.
“On a larger perspective, India has been looking at labour mobility agreements around the world… I’m not going to comment on the Israeli readout. Indian citizens do go abroad [for jobs] on their own, it doesn’t have to be through any government-to-government mechanisms,” he added.
There are a large number of Indians currently working in Israel including in healthcare, construction and other sectors. Approximately 17,000 remain after about 1,000 were evacuated when the Israel-Hamas war first broke out in October.
Also read: First ‘Pannun plot’ indictment filed by US only mentioned Nikhil Gupta, not ‘Indian govt employee’