VOIWORLD
An Indian official said on Wednesday that a high-level investigation has been launched after US officials raised concerns with New Delhi about its government’s knowledge of a conspiracy to kill a Sikh separatist leader on American soil.
The US provided some information, and India “takes such inputs seriously because they impact our national security interests as well, and relevant departments are already investigating the issue,” according to a statement from External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi.
The US government said it raised the problem with New Delhi but would not comment on when or how US authorities became aware of the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, whom the Indian government considers a terrorist, or how the claimed assassination attempt was thwarted.
Pannun was a key organiser of the so-called Khalistan referendum, which invited Sikhs from all over the world to vote on whether India’s Punjab state should become an independent nation based on religion. The non-binding referendum organisers intend to deliver the results to the United Nations General Assembly in around two years.
The Indian government has designated Pannun, general counsel with Sikhs for Justice, as a terrorist. India banned the organisation in 2019. Bagchi stated that on November 18, the Indian government constituted a high-level inquiry committee to look into all elements of the matter.
