Calling the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) case against an Indian national working at the behest of a government employee to allegedly target wanted Khalistani separatists a “lethal plot”, a senior U.S. official visiting Delhi stressed on the need for India to investigate and bring those involved to account, the White House said on Tuesday. The official, U.S. Principal Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) Jonathan Finer is one of a series of American officials who have raised the case with their counterparts in Delhi since the details of a plan to assassinate Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York were reportedly recovered from communications between the Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, and a government official recruiting a hitman who later turned out to be an undercover officer of the U.S. FBI/DEA (Federal Bureau of Investigation/Drug Enforcement Administration).
Mr. Finer met with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra as well as held delegation-level talks with his counterpart Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri. While the Ministry of External Affairs issued a readout on Monday, referring to talks on the India-U.S. Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), the White House readout on Tuesday morning included details of the conversations Mr. Finer had on the Israel-Hamas conflict, the hijacking of a cargo ship in the Red Sea, as well as the Pannun assassination case, where India has instituted a high-level enquiry to investigate the U.S.’ allegations.
“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,” the U.S. White House statement said.
The MEA did not react to requests for a response to the White House’s statements, and to furnish further details of the meetings with the U.S. official.
The White House added that Mr. Finer had held “in-depth discussions aimed at strengthening coordination and policy alignment across the Indo-Pacific, including the wider Indian Ocean region. They discussed the Middle East, including the recent attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the importance of safeguarding freedom of commercial navigation, as well as plans for a post-conflict Gaza and a pathway toward a two-state solution.”
Mr. Finer’s visit to Delhi comes on the heels of a number of high-level visits since June this year, a period that also coincided with the U.S. federal agencies’ investigation into the alleged plot against Mr. Pannun. International news reports, which have not been denied, have suggested that the U.S.’ concerns over India’s involvement in the plot have been conveyed at several levels since then, including by U.S. President Joseph Biden with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met in Washington and Delhi; by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has met Dr. Jaishankar four times, including most recently in November for the 2+2 dialogue; U.S. NSA Jake Sullivan with NSA Ajit Doval; and visits to Delhi by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Intelligence chiefs William Burns and Avril Haines, respectively.
Addressing the media in Washington last week, Mr. Blinken had welcomed India’s announcement that it would hold an enquiry, although it maintained its stand against Canada’s allegation of Indian involvement in the killing of another Khalistan separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which is also referenced in the U.S. indictment.
“This is something we take very seriously. A number of us have raised this directly with the Indian government in past weeks. The [Indian] government announced that it was conducting an investigation, and that’s good and appropriate, and we look forward to seeing the results,” Mr. Blinken had said speaking to reporters on November 30.
