[ad_1]
New Delhi: India is believed to have activated back-channel talks with the United states with discussions going on at the level of National Security Advisors a day after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta and charged him with ‘murder-for-hire’ in an apparent bid to eliminate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, multiple sources told ABP LIVE.
According to the top-level sources, the matter is now being monitored at the “highest level” even as the NSAs of both countries, Ajit Doval and Jake Sullivan, are believed to be entrusted with the task of sorting out the issue that threatens to derail the growing bilateral ties between India and the United States.
This comes a day after the DOJ announced the filing of murder-for-hire charges against Nikhil Gupta, also known as Nick, “in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City”. While the DOJ has taken Gupta into custody and also charged him with serious allegations, it has not named Pannun anywhere in the indictment.
“As alleged, the defendant conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a U.S. citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs, an ethno-religious minority group in India. I am grateful that my Office and our law enforcement partners neutralized this deadly and outrageous threat. We will not tolerate efforts to assassinate U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, and stand ready to investigate, thwart, and prosecute anyone who seeks to harm and silence Americans here or abroad,” US Attorney Damian Williams said Wednesday.
India has taken this matter “very seriously” as it also threatens to tarnish the country’s image, especially as it comes close in the heels of New Delhi already fighting out a diplomatic row in a similar matter with Canada. The government is believed to be leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the matter is handled separately by the DOJ and not come in the way of the thriving strategic ties between India and the US.
“New Delhi is treating this matter with utmost caution. This is not the same as what India is facing with Canada. The US is much closer partner for India and matters like this can disrupt the progress being achieved in the bilateral relationship,” a top intel source told ABP LIVE, adding that the discussions held in the back-channel talks will feed into the investigation that is being carried out by the high-level inquiry committee recently constituted by the Narendra Modi government.
Gupta, 52, who is currently in custody, has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. He was arrested by Czech authorities on June 30 on the basis of a bilateral extradition treaty between the US and the Czech Republic.
Pannun is the founder of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and is wanted in India for propagating a separatist “Sikh referendum” in several countries seeking to create a separate homeland — Khalistan — for the Sikh community.
ALSO READ | ‘India Needs To Take This Seriously’: Trudeau On Nijjar Probe After US Allegations
‘Matter Of Concern’ Says MEA
Arindam Bagchi, the outgoing Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said Thursday the US filing a case against linking Gupta with an Indian official is a “matter of concern”.
“As regards the case against an individual that has been filed in a US court, allegedly linking him to an Indian official, this is a matter of concern. We have said, and let me reiterate, that this is also contrary to Government policy. The nexus between organised crime, trafficking, gun running and extremists at an international level is also a serious issue for law enforcement agencies to consider. It is precisely for this reason that a high level Enquiry Committee has been constituted. We will obviously be guided by its results,” Bagchi told reporters.
He added: “As we have informed earlier, during the course of discussions with the US on bilateral security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others. We take such inputs seriously, and a high-level Enquiry Committee has been constituted to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter and necessary follow-up action will be taken based on the findings of the Enquiry Committee. We cannot share any further information on such security matters.”
Bagchi had earlier said “issues in the context of US inputs are already being examined by relevant departments”.
OPINION | India Needs To Come Clear On Taliban. Afghanistan Plan Looks Messed Up
‘Troubling Implications’ For India And The US
It was in 2013 when the bilateral relationship between India and the US faced a major crisis when American authorities arrested Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges.
Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director of the Asia Program and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Washington-based Wilson Center, told ABP LIVE from Washington that the India-US bilateral relationship is “strong, stable, trust-based, and anchored by strategic convergences” providing “sufficient insulation to weather challenges like the current one”.
“That said, there will be troubling implications. These allegations have spooked US officials. The notion of a strategic partner attempting an assassination on US soil is something they’ll need to grapple with in the days ahead. It won’t shatter trust, but it risks undermining it. More broadly, this development has put into sharp relief a fundamental disconnect in a relationship otherwise rife with convergences: In India’s view, the US doesn’t give enough attention to what India projects as a dangerous security threat,” he said.
Meanwhile, adding fuel to the fire, Canada has asked India to cooperate in an investigation into the murder of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar after the US alleged that it had foiled an assassination attempt against a Sikh separatist on American soil.
“The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we’ve been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.
Reacting to Trudeau’s statements, Bagchi said: “Insofar as Canada is concerned, they have consistently given space to anti-India extremists and violence. That is at the heart of the issue. Our diplomatic representatives have borne the brunt of this. So we expect the Government of Canada to live up to their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We have also seen interference in our internal affairs. This is obviously unacceptable.”
The US DOJ in the indictment has clearly linked the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist who was murdered in Canada in June this year, with Gupta who was believed to have shared a video clip of slain Khalistani operative. Nijjar was working with Pannun.
[ad_2]
Source link