Conversation with India on Pannun assassination plot has been respectful and effective, says US NSA

Washington: The conversation with India regarding the allegations of a plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist in the US that involved an Indian government official has been “respectful” and “effective” because it’s being held behind closed doors, according to Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to the US president.

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. Gupta, who was arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year, was extradited to the US on June 14.

“We have had a constructive dialogue with India on this issue. And we have made it very clear where we stand on it and what we would like to see. And it’s been respectful, and it has been effective, in my view, mostly because it is taking place behind closed doors,” Sullivan said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on Friday responding to a question on allegations related to the assassination attempt on Pannun.

India has denied the allegations but has constituted an internal investigations team to look into it.

"About a year ago, CIA Director Bill Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines went to India and raised concerns with the Indian government about suspicions that the Indian government may have been involved in the assassination of a Sikh activist in Vancouver and what turned out to be a thwarted assassination plot in New York, also against a Sikh activist. Have you received satisfactory explanations from India about what happened or didn’t happen?” Sullivan was asked.

“We were very transparent about this publicly with the Congress, with others. And obviously, that was a carefully executed plan. I sat down with Bill and Avril. I said we are going to go in the following order and actually talk to the Indians about what our expectations are in light of what we have learned, and we are going to work through until we see an outcome that we think is satisfactory,” Sullivan said.

“I don’t think that there’s a lot of value in talking about the nature of that conversation publicly. It is sensitive. It is something we are working through. The story in my view has not yet been completely written; we need to keep working through it. But we have had a constructive dialogue with India on this issue,” said the US national security advisor.