New Delhi: The US has said it will not be fully satisfied until there is meaningful accountability resulting from India’s probe into the alleged plot to murder Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Last week, the US department of justice charged former RAW official Vikash Yadav of being the mastermind in a plot to kill Pannun. The US has arrested and extradited a co-conspirator, Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta, from the Czech Republic.
The charge against Yadav and the release of his name happened close on the heels of a delegation of the inquiry committee from India – looking into the US allegations – apprising Washington of the progress in the case.
The US state department’s principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel was asked by a journalist on October 22 to confirm media reports suggesting that US has communicated to the Indian government that it seeks meaningful accountability regarding the alleged murder plot.
Patel said that there was “valuable engagement with India’s inquiry committee last week”. Information, he said, was also exchanged between “our two governments to further our respective investigations.”
Patel noted that the US understands that the Indian inquiry committee will continue its investigation, and said, “We expect to see further steps based on last week’s conversations.”
He then said that that the US will not be entirely satisfied until India is meaningfully accountable:
“We continue to expect and want to see accountability based on the results of that investigation, and certainly the United States won’t be fully satisfied until there is meaningful accountability resulting from that investigation. Beyond that, I’m just not going to address this in further detail given that this is an issue that is active and remains under investigation and ongoing under both of our countries.”
