US foils plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, warns India over alleged links

Washington issued a warning to New Delhi over concerns the South Asian nation’s government was involved in the conspiracy

Pannun is a proponent of a decades-long, but now a fringe demand to carve out an independent Sikh homeland from India named Khalistan

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Sikh demonstrators protest outside the Indian consulate in Toronto, Canada, on September 25. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:02pm, 22 Nov 2023Updated: 10:41pm, 22 Nov 2023

US authorities have 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 that it does not comment on discussions with its partners on diplomatic, law enforcement or intelligence issues.

The Financial Times said that 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).

The protest to New Delhi was registered after Indian 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.