India rejected a lawsuit filed in a US court by Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against the Indian government and certain Indian officials in an alleged foiled plot to assassinate him on Thursday as completely “unwarranted and unsubstantiated”.
Pannun, the leader of the radical group Sikhs for Justice, filed the civil lawsuit in a US federal district court in New York, seeking damages for an alleged attempt to kill him on American soil last year.
In November of last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with collaborating with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun in New York. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri responded to a question at a media briefing about Pannun’s civil lawsuit, calling it “unwarranted” and “unsubstantiated imputations”. Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. “As previously stated, these are completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations. “Now that this particular case has been filed, our views on the underlying situation have not changed,” Misri stated.
“I would only invite your attention to the person behind this particular case whose antecedents are well known,” he told you. Following the allegations by the US, India formed a high-level inquiry committee to investigate the US’s inputs on the plot.
“I would also underline the fact that the organisation — so-called that this person represents — is an unlawful organisation, has been declared as such under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967 and it has been done so on account of its involvement in anti-national and subversive activities aimed at disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” Misri told the audience.
“I don’t want to say anything more at this time. “I believe that speaks for itself,” he explained. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in a New York district court against the Indian government, NSA Ajit Doval, former R&AW chief Samant Goel, senior security official Vikram Yadav, and Nikhil Gupta.
In April, The Washington Post identified an Indian official as allegedly plotting to assassinate Pannun on American soil.
When asked about the high-level committee formed to investigate the allegations in the foiled plot case, Misri stated that relevant agencies from both countries are working on the matter.
“As has been said from this platform in the past, when these issues were first brought to our attention, we have taken certain action and these issues, including the allegations, are being enquired into by high-level committee and the relevant agencies on both sides have engaged on this,” he further stated.
The foreign secretary was briefing the media on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day visit to the United States, which began September 21.
Modi is in the United States to attend the annual Quad Summit and deliver the ‘Summit of the Future’ address at the UN General Assembly. He will also hold bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Wilmington, Delaware.
When asked if the Khalistan issue would be discussed during Modi’s planned bilateral talks with Biden, Misri did not respond directly.
“As we have said earlier, whatever issues are of mutual concern between India and America, we discuss them all. Whether any specific issue will be raised or not, I cannot say at this time,” he said.
“But I can definitely say that we will discuss all the issues,” he told me. Misri stated that the agenda between India and the United States is “vast and deep” and that all issues are open for discussion.
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