India will look into US allegations that a New Delhi official was involved in a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh separatist leader living in America, the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
The prime minister claimed the Indian government was “committed to the rule of law”.
Earlier this month, New Delhi set up an enquiry committee to investigate US allegations of a foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American and Canadian citizen who is the chief lawyer of the separatist group Sikhs for Justice. US prosecutors have accused an unidentified Indian official of directing Nikhil Gupta, an Indian citizen, to organise the killing of the Sikh activist in June.
A Sikh American who was the target of an alleged assassination plot orchestrated by an Indian government official said he continues to receive hundreds of threats a day even as India said it is investigating a murder-for-hire plot.
The 56-year-old activist, who was born in Punjab but moved to the US to become a lawyer, was placed on India’s terrorist list in 2020 for allegedly challenging the country’s internal security.
In the US, he is leading calls for a separate Sikh state known as Khalistan and is organising a symbolic referendum to be held in California next month for Sikh voters. He has worked closely with other Sikh activists in the past, including Avtar Singh Khanda, a Sikh activist from Britain who died after a sudden and brief illness at the same time that Indian authorities were allegedly plotting to assassinate Pannun and killed Nijjar.
Modi said in a media interview that India was “deeply concerned about the activities of some extremist groups based abroad.” These groups, “in the guise of freedom of speech, are engaged in intimidation and incitement to violence,” he said.
Modi said India and Washington shared a “mature and stable partnership”. He added:
“Security and counter-terrorism co-operation has been a key component of our partnership. I don’t think it is appropriate to link a few incidents with diplomatic relations between the two countries.”
The US accusations come months after Canada accused India of killing another Sikh separatist on Canadian soil, India has completely denied all allegations. The case has strained relations between the two countries and Canada has been forced to expel several of its diplomats from the South Asian country.
