NEW DELHI: An Indian committee established after a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States, a case that dented ties between the allies, has demanded swift “legal action”, New Delhi said Wednesday.
The 2023 case severely tested relations between Washington and New Delhi, although India’s response represented a sharp contrast to its defiant approach to similar charges from Canada.
“The committee has submitted its report to the government, and recommended legal action against an individual,” India’s information ministry said in a statement, saying justice “must be completed expeditiously”.
The committee was established in 2023 to investigate “activities of some organised criminal groups, terrorist organisations, drug peddlers, etc., who undermined the security interests of both India and the US”, the statement read.
Sikh separatist claims Indian ‘spy network’ operates in US, Canada
It did not specifically reference the alleged murder plot, nor did the statement name the individual, or even state their nationality.
However, the US Justice Department has indicted two Indians for their role in the alleged plot.
Nikhil Gupta pleaded not guilty in June 2024 to involvement in the assassination plot after being extradited to the United States from the Czech Republic.
The second person, Indian former intelligence official Vikash Yadav, 40, who remains at large and on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list, was charged in October 2024 with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering.
Both Gupta and Yadav are accused of taking part in a plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US and Canadian citizen who lives in New York.
Pannun is affiliated with a New York-based group called Sikhs for Justice that campaigns for “Khalistan”, a fringe separatist movement seeking an independent state for the religious minority carved out of Indian territory.
India’s response to the United States was far more muted than its reaction to Canada, where relations frayed after the killing of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver in 2023.
Ottawa accused India of orchestrating the killing of 45-year-old naturalised Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Khalistan campaigner.
Nijjar, 45, was shot dead by masked gunmen outside the Sikh temple he presided over after being wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism offences and conspiracy to commit murder – accusations he denied.
India has repeatedly dismissed Ottawa’s allegations, which sent diplomatic relations into freefall, with both nations expelling a slew of diplomats.
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