According to the US Justice Department chargesheeta purported drug dealer, Nikhil Gupta, conspired to kill Pannun on directions from an Indian intelligence official.
The remarks came amid raging speculation in US circles over whether the alleged plot was officially sanctioned by New Delhi or a rogue operation involving an errant intelligence official. India has denied it has a policy of conducting transnational killing of political enemies, but US media reports closely examined the career of India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, his remarks over the years as an intelligence boffin, and previous killings of political reprobates outside the country, including in Pakistan.
It now transpires that conversations between Washington and New Delhi on the alleged plot was taking place at the highest level even as the leaders visited each others country —PM Modi’s state visit to Washington DC in June and President Biden’s trip to New Delhi in September for the G20 summit, among them.
Everything you need to know about Nikhil Gupta, charged in US for assassination plot of Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun
Biden, according to US officials, personally took up the issue with Modi after Washington had sent its two top intelligence officials, CIA director William Burns and director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, to New Delhi to raise the issue. The US, according to some reports, is inclined to take India’s word that it was not an officially sanctioned mission. Washington’s “measured response, according to some diplomats in New Delhi, is a sign that US officials could have information to suggest that the plot did not go far up the chain in India,” the New York Times said in a report from New Delhi. The paper said US diplomats also pointed to “the sloppiness of the plot, as detailed in the court documents, which seems at odds with the sophistication of some top Indian security officials.”
However, the episode may turn out to be a heavy cross for India to bear, despite the inherent strength of India-US relations. This was evident when the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Benjamin Cardin announcing shortly after the indictment that he would hold a hearing next week related to the alleged involvement of Indian officials in the plot.
Cardin even in the past, as a member of the committee, has been critical of India for alleged violation of human rights and freedom of speech, while advocating formal and regular India-US dialogue on human rights issues.
