Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India is looking to US allegations of involvement of an Indian national assassination plot in the US against Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwat Sing Pannun and added that these “few incidents” would not derail US-India ties. In an interview with the Financial Times (FT), there’s strong bipartisan support for the strengthening of the India-US relationship, “which is a clear indicator of a mature and stable partnership.”
“If someone gives us any information, we would definitely look into it,” the PM said, quoted FT. “If a citizen of ours has done anything good or bad, we are ready to look into it. Our commitment is to the rule of law,” the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister said that India was “deeply concerned about the activities of certain extremist groups based overseas” and that these ” elements, under the guise of freedom of expression, have engaged in intimidation and incited violence,” FT reported.
Emphasising that India-US relations will not be impacted by the Pannun episode, PM Modi said, “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 Department of Justice recently published an indictment claiming that an Indian official directed the attempted murder of a Sikh separatist (Gurpatwant Pannun) on American soil. Notably, India had designated Pannun as a terrorist in 2020 and also accused the Western nations of not taking seriously its security concerns about Sikh separatism, the report added.
After the US’ allegations, the Minister of External Affairs said that a high-level committee to investigate the accusations has been set up and “necessary follow-up action” will be taken.
The US allegations had come months after Canada claimed to have found “potential links” between India and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
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