New Delhi: A day after a top US newspaper wrote that US officials assessed that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel were likely aware of the plot, India on Tuesday claimed that it made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter”.
Earlier on Monday, The Washington Post had reported for the first time that the unnamed Indian government official accused by US authorities of directing the alleged plot to murder pro-Khalistan lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil is a former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer named Vikram Yadav.
The report also mentions that Samant Goel, who was the RAW chief during the time of the alleged plot, faced “extreme pressure to eliminate the alleged threat of Sikh extremists overseas”.
Regarding whether national security adviser Ajit Doval had knowledge of or authorized the plot, US officials suggest that Doval “probably knew of or approved” RAW’s operations targeting Sikhs outside India, but “no smoking gun proof” had yet emerged.
A day later, the Ministry of External Affairs claimed that the Washington Post story had made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter”.
The MEA’s statement appeared to specifically address the article’s insinuations regarding Doval and Goel potentially authorising the plot.
“There is an ongoing investigation of the High Level Committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
Several hours earlier in Washington, White House spokesperson Karin Jean-Pierre had also stated that US has consistently raised the matter which it has “laid that out multiple times, whether it’s a meeting here with the prime minister or a meeting abroad”.
“This is a serious matter and we’re taking that very, very seriously. The Government of India has been very clear with us that they are taking this seriously and will investigate,” she said.
Adding that US expects “accountability”, the White House added, “But we are going to continue to raise our concerns. That’s not going to stop. We’re going to continue to raise our concerns directly, with the Indian government.”
The Washington Post report had implied that White House had pushed the Department of Justice not to frame charges against the RAW officer. Additionally, the newspaper stated that White House officials had forewarned the Indian government earlier this month that the Post was going to publish an investigation that would reveal new details of the murder plot, and did so without informing the Post.
