NEW YORK: US authorities reportedly foiled a plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist within its borders and issued a diplomatic warning to India amid concerns of the Indian government’s alleged involvement, according to sources cited by the Financial Times on Wednesday.
The unnamed sources cited by the Financial Times did not clarify whether the protest to India led to the abandonment of the plot by the perpetrators or if it was thwarted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The diplomatic warning was reportedly raised after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US in June, where he was welcomed by President Joe Biden.
There has been no immediate response from India’s foreign ministry or the US embassy in New Delhi regarding the report.
The Financial Times disclosed that, apart from the diplomatic protest, US federal prosecutors filed a sealed indictment against at least one suspect in a New York district court. The target of the foiled plot was identified as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Indian Govt’s Plot to Kill Sikh Separatist Leader
Pannun, much like the late Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, advocates for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India. The report noted that Pannun did not confirm whether US authorities had alerted him about the plot, but he remarked that he would “let the US government respond to the issue of threats to my life on American soil from the Indian operatives.”
This revelation comes just two months after Canada asserted “credible” allegations connecting Indian agents to the June murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb. The US reportedly shared details of the thwarted plot with a wider group of allies after Canada’s public accusation, emphasizing the gravity of the situation and the collaborative efforts in intelligence-sharing among these nations.
