A plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States has been thwarted by U.S. authorities, reports the Financial Times.
President Biden took up the matter with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G-20 Summit in September, expressing concerns that India was involved in the assassination plan.
According to the Times, the attorney for the U.S.-based group Sikhs for Justice, Singh Pannun, was the target.
The group has supported calls in India by some for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan.
CBS News reports the U.S. Security Council on Wednesday confirmed it has also taken up the matter with Indian officials. The NSC says it is taking the issue “with utmost seriousness.”
“It has been raised by the U.S. Government with the Indian Government, including at the senior-most levels,” NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Pannun founded Sikhs for Justice in 2007 specifically to push for an independent state. India declared him a terrorist in 2019 and banned his group for “anti-India activities.”
The Indian government has also confirmed that its had discussions with the United States about this and is taking the concerns seriously.
“India takes such inputs seriously since it impinges on our own national security interests as well,” said Arindam Bagchi of India’s foreign affairs ministry.
The reports come two months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government had evidence linking India to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
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Obviously, if true, these are not the actions of a democratic state beholden to the rules of law. I don’t identify with the state of India, though I do identify with its culture, including the many contributions of Sikhs. From what I know, Sikhs do face discrimination in India, so I can understand their distress and desire to have their own state. But Sikhs are pretty much everywhere in India, just like Muslims, so it seems a practical problem and might stir more antagonism to have a separate state. I wish AsAm News might do a story on the history of Sikh separatism. But this is a situation that requires deep engagement diplomatically and therapeutically, not militarily.