New Delhi: India has told the United States it is considering “potential institutional reforms” as part of its investigations into the allegations made by US prosecutors that an Indian government official was behind the foiled attempt to target a pro-Khalistan lawyer, US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday (June 25).
The senior US state department official had accompanied US national security advisor Jake Sullivan on his visit to India last week, during which they took part in the second meeting of the India-US initiative on critical and emerging technology – and also met with the Indian leadership.
In November, US prosecutors unsealed the indictment of an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta for allegedly hiring a hitman to assassinate a US national.
The victim was not named, but he is widely known to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, lawyer for Sikhs for Justice, which India has designated as a terror group.
More damagingly, the indictment claimed that an Indian government official directed Gupta to hire the hitman and provided the funds for the operation.
These US allegations came after Canada’s accusations that Indian government officials were potentially involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian national declared as a Khalistani terrorist by India.
While India angrily dismissed the Canadian charges, it established a high-level committee to investigate the evidence presented by the United States.
For the first time, a senior US administration official had indicated that the discussions from the India side had gone beyond just investigating the evidence.
“I will say that we also believe that Indian colleagues are looking carefully at what potential institutional reforms might be necessary in the wake of some of these allegations and reports that you’ve described,” said Campbell in response to a question during an online media briefing on Wednesday evening.
“Those discussions continue between the United States and I think anything further is likely to come through law enforcement channels,” he added.
His reply was also in context of a report by Bloomberg in March this year, which claimed India had told the US that “rogue” operatives not authorised by the government were behind the alleged plot to kill Pannun.
India has not made any public statements about the composition of the high-level committee, nor given any updates on the status of the investigation.
In answer to another question, Campbell said that there was “constructive dialogue” with India, which he said had been “responsive to our concern”.
“We’ve made clear that we seek accountability from the government of India. And we have consistently asked for updates on the Indian committee on [inaudible] investigations. And I would just simply say that we raised the issues directly with the Indian government, with the Indian government at the most senior levels between our two countries,” he said.
Incidentally, when Sullivan was in Delhi, five influential US senators released a statement urging US secretary of state Antony Blinken to deliver a “strong diplomatic response” to hold the Indian government accountable for its alleged involvement in the foiled assassination attempt.
Earlier this month, Gupta was extradited by the Czech government to the US after his legal challenges in the Czech judiciary were exhausted.
Following the announcement that Gupta was in US custody, US attorney general Merrick B. Garland stated that the extradition “makes clear that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to silence or harm American citizens”.
“Nikhil Gupta will now face justice in an American courtroom for his involvement in an alleged plot, directed by an employee of the Indian government, to target and assassinate a US citizen for his support of the Sikh separatist movement in India,” he said.
