US says it is 'satisfied' with India's cooperation in alleged plot to kill Pannun

TOI correspondent from Washington: Taking a more measured and lowkey approach than Canada in the matter of purported transnational hit jobs, the Biden administration on Wednesday said it is "satisfied" with the cooperation it is getting from New Delhi in the US investigation into the alleged foiled assassination plot targeting Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Pannun .

"It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation, and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours," state department spokesman Matthew Miller said at the daily briefing, following a meeting with the visiting Indian team probing the matter.

Characterising it as a "productive meeting," Miller said the visiting Indian team informed the US that the individual named in the Justice Department indictment relating to the alleged plot against Pannun's life is no longer an employee of the Indian Government.

The individual, identified as CC1 in the US indictment, is reported to be a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer on deputation to Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) named Vikram Yadav. According to US accounts, CC1 allegedly recruited Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, to hire a hitman to eliminate Pannun, who the Indian government has designated as a terrorist. The hitman turned out to be an undercover US agent.

Gupta was arrested in Prague earlier this year and extradited to the US, where he has pled not guilty ahead of an expected trial. India has said it does not sanction or condone transnational killing amid suggestions that certain players may have gone rogue.

At the same time, New Delhi has also pushed back at US and Canada for adopting a benign attitude -- all in the name of political freedom -- towards violent Khalistani extremists who have attacked Indian diplomatic missions and threatened Indian diplomats and officials.

Pannun, a dual citizen of US and Canada, has a free run in both countries and continues to openly threaten Indian officials, most recently sending out an email showing India's ambassador to the US, Vinay Kwatra, in the cross hairs of a rifle in a visual, with the message "Wanted: Enemy of Sikhs."

While Washington has kept engagement with New Delhi on the issue fairly low-key, Canada has elevated the matter into the public domain, insisting New Delhi has had a hand in the assassination of Sikh separatists, despite by its own admission, not providing evidence for what it calls "credible allegations." Canada's political arena is replete with charges that the country Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stirred up the matter for political survival since his government is dependent on support from Sikh leaders, many of whom are Khalistani separatists.