WASHINGTON DC: The United States has said that it will withhold judgment until the results of India’s investigation into allegations of an Indian official’s involvement in a conspiracy to assassinate a separatist Sikh leader in the US are revealed.
“We have noted at the most senior levels of this government – the secretary of state has raised this directly with his foreign counterpart that we take this issue very seriously. They told us they would conduct an investigation,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference on Tuesday, PTI reported.
“They have publicly announced an investigation. Now, we will wait to see the results of the investigation…,” Miller said in response to a question.
An Indian official has been linked by American prosecutors to an individual accused of conspiring to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States.
India has expressed concern over the matter and stated that appropriate action will be taken following the conclusions of an investigative panel examining the allegations.
PTI reported that the US, Miller said, has also urged India to cooperate with Canada’s investigation of allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of a Canadian national.
Earlier on Tuesday, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States, Jon Finer, has recognized India’s initiative in forming a Committee of Enquiry to investigate alleged conspiracies occurring within the United States.
In the statement, the White House said, “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.”
Earlier, US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta, 52, of working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun. US prosecutors informed a Manhattan court that authorities in the Czech Republic arrested and detained Gupta.
Furthermore, India has already constituted a high-level enquiry committee to look into all the relevant aspects regarding the concerns shared by the United States and will be taking “necessary follow-up action” based on the findings.
Pannun was born in Khankot village on the outskirts of Amritsar — the son of a former Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board employee named Mahinder Singh. He is believed to have graduated from Punjab University in the 1990s and founded the SFJ in 2007. The New York-based organisation advocates for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan to be carved out of India.
Meanwhile, Khalistani terrorist Gutpatwant Singh Pannun has released a new video in which he said, “will shake the very foundations of Parliament”, on or before 13 December, the anniversary of the 2001 attack, according to media reports.
