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
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.
India has rejected Canada’s accusations.
‘Watch your back’: Sikh diaspora fears for safety after killing of separatist
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.
The paper identified Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as the target of the foiled plot.
The FT report said Pannun had declined to say whether US authorities had warned him about the plot, but quoted him as saying he would “let the US 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, a senior Canadian government source said in September.
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India’s Sikhs worry about the future as row with Canada escalates
The FT report mentioned that the US shared details of the thwarted plot with a wider group of allies after Canada’s public accusation.
Pannun is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which India labelled an “unlawful association” in 2019, citing its involvement in extremist activities. Pannun was listed as an “individual terrorist” by India in 2020.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case against him under charges related to terrorism and conspiracy, among others. It stated that he also threatened in his video messages to not let Air India operate anywhere in the world.
Pannun said on Tuesday that his message was to “boycott Air India not bomb”.
Canada warns India to treat Sikh slaying allegation seriously
Also on Wednesday, India resumed issuing e-visas for Canadian tourists and business travellers two months after it suspended such services following the row over Nijjar’s killing.
Though the move is likely to ease tensions slightly, relations between the two countries are not expected to significantly improve in the near future.
“E-visa services to Canadian nationals have resumed,” an Indian government official aware of the decision said on the condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak on the subject.
The official did not say if the decision will lead to a significant thaw in the relationship with Ottawa.
India issues e-visas only for tourism and business for Canadian nationals.
It comes a month after New Delhi had resumed visas under four of the 13 categories that had been suspended in September.
