WASHINGTON: The US has said it is looking forward to the results of the Indian inquiry into the allegations that an Indian official was involved in an alleged plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.
In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun in New York. Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada.
Gupta, who was arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year, was extradited to the US on June 14.
“They (Indian officials) have announced that they are conducting an inquiry, and we will look forward to the results of that inquiry,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference on Wednesday.
He was responding to a question on members of the Foreign Senate Foreign Relations Committee writing a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for a strong diplomatic response on the Indian government’s involvement in an alleged assassination attempt on a US citizen on US soil.
Following the allegations, India appointed a high-level inquiry committee to look into the inputs provided by the US on the plot.
Miller said, “We will respond to those members privately as we always do. I won’t speak on that here. But as pertains to the other issue, when this issue first arose, we made clear that we had raised it with the government of India and told them that we expected there to be a full investigation.”
During a virtual media briefing on Wednesday on his and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s visit to India last week, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the US has consistently pressed India for updates on the Indian investigation into the alleged foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Pannun and made it clear that it seeks accountability in the case.
“We have had constructive dialogue with India on this topic and I would say that they have been responsive to our concerns,” he said.