President Joe Biden met with Sikh activists before his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to Reuters, the meeting happened on Thursday, two days before Biden’s meeting with Modi on Saturday. The White House wanted to discuss the threats facing Sikh Americans with community leaders.
Specifically, the U.S. government talked about alleged assassinations and assassination attempts coming from India. It has asked India to investigate the murder of U.S.-Canada citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh leader.
Some suspect that India is attempting to squash the efforts of Sikh Americans who support the development of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan.
Pritpal Singh, the founder of the advocacy group the American Sikh Caucus Committee, was one of the many leaders who attended the meeting.
“Yesterday, we had the chance to thank senior federal government officials for saving lives of Sikh Americans and for vigilance in protecting our community,” Pritpal Singh said per Reuters.
“We asked them to do more and we will hold them to their assurances that they will.”
Modi arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday. He met with Biden that day at the president’s home in Greenville, Delaware. According to CNN, the meeting is part of the Prime Minister’s three-day U.S. visit. He will also be attending the Quad Summit, a meeting between leaders of the Quad countries: Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
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