Plot to Kill Pannun, FBI Chief to Visit Delhi for Investigation

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Even as the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Christopher Wray is scheduled to visit India next week, apparently in connection with the alleged Indian plot to assassinate the US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Centre on Thursday responded to Pannun’s threat to attack Parliament on or before December 13, saying that it did not want to give much credence to such threats but the matter was being looked into closely by authorities concerned.

Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for External Affairs Ministry, was asked about Pannun’s recent threat to attack Parliament on or before December 13, the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack that left 15 people, including the five attackers, dead.

Mr Bagchi said while he was not the right person to comment on security issues, “we do take threats seriously.” “We are caught in a bind here. I do not want to amplify or give too much credence to such extremists, who make threats and get a lot of coverage. On the other hand, we take this seriously and in this particular matter, we know we have taken up the matter with the US and Canadian authorities.”

the US Department of Justice‘s 15 page indictment in the alleged plot against Pannun has opened a whole new can of worms for India’s ties with the US and Canada. Many of the US senators have also criticised India-US ties after the alleged plot involving an Indian embassy official with a contract killer to assassinate Pannun on the US soil in June came to light recently. Indian has appointed a high-level committee to investigate the allegation involving embassy official.

Earlier, Delhi Police said they are on alert after Pannun released the threat message. The threat comes at a time when Parliament is in session. A senior police officer has said security has already been stepped up in and around Parliament. “No one will be allowed to disturb law and order,” he said. Pannun is the chief of extremist organisation “Sikhs for Justice.”

The issue is likely to be at the top of the agenda of Mr Wray’s visit to New Delhi. His visit, closely following the visit by the US principal deputy national security advisor Jonathan Finer, was announced by U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti at an event on Wednesday night. Mr Finer had also discussed the Indian government’s decision to set up a high-level enquiry into the case.

The announcement of the FBI chief’s trip came just as a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing got underway on ‘Transnational repression: Authoritarians targeting dissenters abroad.’ The committee included the cases of Pannun and the killing of Canadian Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in statements that sought to club India with countries like Russia, China, and Iran that it accused of targeting “dissidents” in other countries.

“This was the Number One country [that U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen] went to outside the United States, four times this year,” Mr Garcetti said, highlighting the strength of the India-U.S. relationship at a Global Technology summit organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India in Delhi. “The Secretary of State [Antony Blinken] just came here for the third time; Secretary of Defence [Gen (Retd) Lloyd Austin] for the second time. The FBI director is here next week,” he added, in the first public acknowledgement of the FBI chief’s visit.

He is expected to arrive on December 11 for the first such visit since a senior FBI official visited Delhi in April this year. The National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which will host Mr Wray, declined to comment. The FBI, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), had carried out the investigation and surveillance of the Indian nationals involved in the alleged assassination plot of Mr Pannun beginning May 2023.

At the U.S. Senate’s hearing on transnational repression, lawmakers heard from activists and experts, including Freedom House president Michael Abramowitz, who expressed concerns over the “backsliding of democracy” in India and other countries, accusing democratic governments of using authoritarian, “repressive measures”, and surveillance to track dissidents.