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

By Simon Lewis

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

The United States has been pushing India to look in to the Justice Department's claim that an unnamed Indian intelligence official directed plans to assassinate dual U.S.-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 U.S. it was looking in to "other linkages of the former government employee."

"The Enquiry Committee will be traveling to Washington, D.C. on October 15th, as part of their ongoing investigations to discuss the case, including information they have obtained, and to receive an update from U.S. authorities regarding the U.S. 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.