New Delhi: Just six hours before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with the US president, a senior White House official asserted that prioritising “the safety of every American” remained the “continued position” of the administration – marking its first policy remark on the murder-for-hire case involving a former Indian government officer since Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
In November 2023, US prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging Indian national Nikhil Gupta with attempting to kill Khalistani lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York, allegedly under the direction of an unnamed Indian government official.
A second indictment last October accused former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer Vikash Yadav of masterminding the plot.
At a White House background briefing ahead of Modi’s visit on Thursday (February 13), a senior Trump administration official said, “I can tell you that President Trump, you’ve seen this in recent days, with respect to the persons we’ve brought home, he prioritises nothing more than the safety of every American, and that is the continued position of this administration.”
The remarks were in response to a media query on whether the Pannun case remained on the bilateral agenda and if Trump would bring it up with his Indian guest.
This marks the first statement from the second Trump administration regarding the Pannun case.
Last month, India announced that a high-powered government probe had recommended “legal action” against “an individual”.
The home ministry’s press release also acknowledged weaknesses in government systems and procedures that needed to be addressed, suggesting the former RAW officer acted independently.
The Indian statement came just five days before the Trump administration took office, which was a clear signal from New Delhi to the incoming president.
The White House also indicated that it expected India to do more on reducing import tariffs on American goods.
Also read: Could a ‘Transactional’ Trump Leverage the Pannun Case to Get Modi to Buy US Fighter Aircraft?
“With respect to trade, there’s been some early body language from the government of India that has been well received by the Trump administration. They’re early but modest steps, a lot more work to do,” said a senior US administration official at the White House briefing.
After his first phone call with Modi in January, Trump stated that he expected India to buy more US weapons and oil while maintaining a “fair” bilateral trade relationship – a phrase he uses to indicate his push to reduce the trade deficit.
The senior US administration official said that there were ongoing “conversations with them about a number of new [weapons] procurements which will add to the relationship and also break down the trade deficit”.
He noted that the two sides were moving “towards signing a new defence framework between the United States and India which will portend good things with the partnership”.
In 2005, India and the US signed a “new framework” for defence cooperation, which was renewed in 2015 for another ten years.
After the Trump-Modi meeting, the White House official said there would be announcements about collaboration on critical technologies, semiconductors, critical minerals, supply chain resilience and diversification.
He also said there would be a signal about a trade deal.
“I anticipate what you’ll see coming out of a meeting today is further momentum towards a solidified fair, and I emphasize that word fair bilateral trade arrangement between our two dynamic and growing economies, and the hope would be to have such a deal in place in the calendar year 2025,” added the official.
