Besides Canada, US too Warned India against Attempt to Kill its Sikh Citizens

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Nov 22: Canada was not alone, the United States too had warned Indian government against any involvement in attempts to kill its Sikh citizens after reportedly thwarting a plot to kill chief of the US-based “Sikhs for Justice,” an organisation of the Sikh separatists, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

This was reported on Wednesday by the Financial Times quoting some unnamed sources. It said the protest by the US was registered after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed on a state visit by President Joe Biden in June, report said.

The US report comes two months after Canada said there were “credible allegations” linking Indian agents to the   June murder of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb. India has rejected Canada’s accusations calling the charges “motivated” and “absurd” which has led some tension in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

There was no immediate response from the Ministry of External Affairs on the FT report. The report said the sources did not say if the protest to India resulted in the plot being abandoned by the plotters, or if it was foiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Apart from the diplomatic warning to India, U.S. federal prosecutors have also filed a sealed indictment against at least one suspect in a New York district court, the report said.

The paper identified Pannun as the target of the foiled plot. It said Pannun had declined to say whether U.S. authorities had warned him about the plot, but quoted him as saying he would “let the U.S. government respond to the issue of threats to my life on American soil from the Indian operatives.” Pannun, like Nijjar, is a proponent of a decades-long, but now a fringe demand to carve out an independent Sikh homeland from India named Khalistan.

Canada worked very closely with the United States on intelligence that Indian agents had been potentially involved in Nijjar’s murder. The FT report mentioned that the U.S. shared details of the thwarted plot with a wider group of allies after Canada’s public accusation.

“Washington shared details of the Pannun case with a wider group of allies after Trudeau went public with details of the Vancouver killing, the combination of which sparked concern among allies about a possible pattern of behaviour,” the FT report said.

Pannun, who is a dual-citizen of the US and Canada, has been issuing threats to Indian envoys and most recently warned people from flying on Air India — reminiscent of the Kanishka bombing tragedy which killed more than 300 people, most of them Canadian citizens.

Separate from the diplomatic warning, US federal prosecutors have filed a sealed indictment against at least one alleged perpetrator of the plot in a New York district court, FT said, quoting sources.

“The US justice department is debating whether to unseal the indictment and make the allegations public or wait until Canada finishes its investigation into Nijjar’s murder. Further complicating the case, one person charged in the indictment is believed to have left the US, according to people familiar with the proceedings” the report said.

The US Justice Department and FBI declined to comment to FT. According to the FT, the National Security Council said the US does “not comment on ongoing law enforcement matters or private diplomatic discussions with our partners.” It added, “Upholding the safety and security of US citizens is paramount,” said the report.

The FT’s revelation comes on a day — when almost two months after it suspended Indian visa services in Canada over Trudeau’s allegation of a potential Indian link to the Nijjar killing, India resumed e-visa services for Canadian nationals, sources said on Wednesday.

In October, India had restored visa services in some categories including entry, business, medical, and conference visas. The latest visa move is being seen as a step towards de-escalation by New Delhi after India had asked Canada to reduce its diplomatic presence in India following the diplomatic spat.

Canada had also announced last month that it had pulled out 41 diplomats from India and halted its visa and consular services in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru, and that these services would now be available only at the Canadian High Commission in Delhi.

The Indian move to resume visa services is being seen as a potential “door-opener” though Trudeau and his government have not withdrawn his allegation.