‘US thwarts plot to kill Sikh ultra, warns India’
There was no immediate response from India’s foreign ministry to requests for comment on the report.
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NEW DELHI: US authorities thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States and issued a warning to India over concerns the government in New Delhi was involved, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
There was no immediate response from India’s foreign ministry to requests for comment on the report. A spokesperson for the US embassy said it does not comment on discussions with its partners on diplomatic, law enforcement or intelligence issues. The sources quoted in the report did not say if the protest to India resulted in the plot being abandoned by the plotters or if it was foiled by the FBI.
The paper identified Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as the target of the foiled plot, against whom India’s anti-terror agency filed a case on Monday stating he warned flag carrier Air India passengers in video messages shared on social media this month that their lives were in danger. The protest to New Delhi was registered after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed on a state visit by President Joe Biden in June, the report said. The report comes two months after Canada said there were “credible” allegations linking Indian agents to the June murder of a Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Vancouver suburb. India has rejected Canada’s accusations.
Apart from the diplomatic warning to India, US federal prosecutors have also filed a sealed indictment against at least one suspect in a New York district court, the FT report said.
Pannun is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which India labelled an “unlawful association” in 2019, citing its involvement in extremist activities.
India resumes e-Visa to Canadian citizens
India has resumed electronic visa services for Canadian nationals after a nearly two-month pause, sources said Wednesday. Visas were suspended after tensions flared over charges of “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.
