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Saturday, November 09, 2024  
06 Jumada Al-Awwal 1446  

Indian committee probing US assassination plot plans to visit Washington, says State Dept

Cites Indian Enquiry Committee ‘actively investigating the individual’
US President Joe Biden and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wait for a meeting with senior officials and CEOs of American and Indian companies, in the East Room the White House in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2023. AFP/File
US President Joe Biden and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wait for a meeting with senior officials and CEOs of American and Indian companies, in the East Room the White House in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2023. AFP/File

An Indian government committee investigating Indian involvement in a foiled murder plot against a prominent activist in the United States will meet US officials in Washington this week, the State Department said on Monday.

The United States has been pushing India to look into the Justice Department’s claim that an unnamed Indian intelligence official directed plans to assassinate dual US-Canada citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a prominent Sikh separatist, last year.

In an unusual statement on another country’s investigation, the State Department said on Monday that an Indian Enquiry Committee “is actively investigating the individual” and that India had informed the US it was looking in to “other linkages of the former government employee.”

“The Enquiry Committee will be travelling to Washington, DC on October 15th, as part of their ongoing investigations to discuss the case, including information they have obtained, and to receive an update from US authorities regarding the US case that is proceeding,” it said.

India’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

India has said little publicly since announcing in November 2023 it would formally investigate the claims, and has separately continued a diplomatic dispute with Canada over the June 2023 assassination of another Sikh leader.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September his country’s intelligence agency was pursuing credible allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist who was vocal in supporting the creation of a new separate Sikh state in Northern India called “Khalistan.”

India has denied involvement in both incidents.

India withdrew its envoy to Ottawa earlier on Monday along with other officials and diplomats Canada named as “persons of interest” in its investigation.

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