New Delhi: US Principal Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) Jon Finer, after meeting three top Indian officials Monday, acknowledged India’s establishment of an enquiry committee to investigate an alleged plot to kill Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Finer led a delegation to India Monday, days after American prosecutors unsealed an indictment that alleged an Indian official was involved in conspiring to assassinate Pannun on US soil.
“Mr Finer acknowledged India’s establishment of a Committee of Enquiry to investigate lethal plotting in the United States and the importance of holding accountable anyone found responsible,” read a statement issued by the White House following the US official’s travel.
While in Delhi, Finer held meetings with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra.
Shortly after the unsealing of the US indictment, India last week described the case as a “matter of concern” and asserted it would take necessary follow-up action based on the findings of an inquiry committee.
This comes amid a diplomatic spat between India and Canada over allegations that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
Last week, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta of conspiring with an Indian government employee sitting in Delhi in the foiled “plot to kill” Pannun. Gupta, who was arrested by the Czech authorities in June, was last month handed over to the US.
According to reports, the matter of the foiled “assassination plot” against Pannun was raised by top US security officials with their Indian counterparts months before the indictment was unsealed. Central Intelligence Agency Director William J. Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines had travelled to India in August and October, respectively, to demand a probe.
Pannun, the founder of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), is a designated terrorist in India. The SFJ has been banned in India since 2019. Pannun last month asked Sikhs not to fly Air India on 19 November, which marks the birth anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple in 1984.
While in India, Finer also undertook the first comprehensive mid-term review of the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), alongside his Indian counterpart Vikram Misri Monday.
“During the consultations, the two deputy NSAs reviewed key bilateral issues and exchanged views on regional and global developments,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said following their meeting.
Finer also briefly participated in the Global Technology Summit organised by the MEA and think tank Carnegie India. At the event, he remarked that India and the US can “work through” differences without “derailing” the larger cooperative agenda.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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