The White House on Monday said it viewed the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in two assassination plots in Canada and the US as a serious matter.
The Washington Post reported that an officer in India’s intelligence service was directly involved in a foiled plan to assassinate a US citizen who is one of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most vocal critics in the US. It said the officer was also involved in the separate shooting death of a Sikh activist in June last year in Canada.
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Washington Post report made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter” while New Delhi is investigating the issue.
Photo: Reuters
“Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.
“This is a serious matter, and we’re taking that very, very seriously,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “We’re going to continue to raise our concerns.”
In November, US authorities said an Indian government official had directed the plot in the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual US and Canadian citizen.
India has expressed concern about the linkage and dissociated itself from the plot, saying it would formally investigate the concerns of the US.
Pannun is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, a group that India labeled an “unlawful association” in 2019, citing its involvement in extremist activities. Subsequently, in 2020, India listed Pannun as an “individual terrorist.”
The issue is a delicate one for India and US President Joe Biden’s administration as they try to build closer ties in the face of shared concerns about China’s growing power.
News of the US plot came two months after Canada said it was looking at credible allegations potentially linking Indian agents to the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist, in a Vancouver suburb.
India strongly rejected Ottawa’s accusations.
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