Washington:
The United States is “regularly cooperating” with India in its investigation into allegations related to the plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US State Department official said.
The comments from US State Department chief spokesperson Vedant Patel came after The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, named a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer in connection with the alleged plot to kill Pannun last years on American soil.
India strongly rejected the claims on Tuesday, saying the report contains “baseless and baseless” allegations about a serious matter and that an investigation into the matter is underway.
Speaking at his daily press conference on Tuesday, Mr Patel said: “We continue to expect accountability from the Government of India based on the results of the Indian Commission of Inquiry's work, and we work with them regularly and request additional updates.”
“We will also continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian government at senior levels, but beyond that I will not comment further and will leave it to the Ministry of Justice,” Mr Patel said when asked about the matter. Washington Post report, which identified the RAW officer as Vikram Yadav and alleged that he was involved in the plot to kill Pannun.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal criticized the American newspaper's report on Tuesday.
“The report in question makes baseless and baseless allegations on a serious matter,” he said in New Delhi.
Mr Jaiswal said a high-level investigative committee set up by New Delhi to probe US inputs on the alleged plot was still investigating the matter.
“The high-level committee established by the Indian government to investigate security concerns shared by the US government regarding networks of organized criminals, terrorists and others is under investigation,” he said.
“Speculative and irresponsible comments on this are not helpful,” Jaiswal added.
In November last year, US federal prosecutors accused Indian national Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government official in the foiled plot to kill Pannun.
Pannun, who is wanted in India on terror charges, is a dual citizen of the US and Canada. He has been declared a terrorist by the Union Home Ministry under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activity (Prevention) Act.
Allegations about the failed plot to kill Pannun came to the fore weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in September last year that Indian agents were “possibly” involved in the June 18 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia .
India had strongly rejected the allegations.
On December 7, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in Parliament that India has set up a commission of inquiry to probe US involvement in the Pannun case as the case affects national security.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)