Washington
\nUnited States officials have told their Indian counterparts they want a speedy result and more accountability after their investigation into Indian involvement in a foiled murder plot against a Sikh activist in the US, according to an official.
\nAn Indian Inquiry Committee visited Washington last week to discuss India\u2019s own investigations after the Justice Department alleged an Indian intelligence official had directed plans to assassinate dual US-Canada citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist, last year.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve communicated really clearly that the US government isn\u2019t going to feel fully satisfied until we see that meaningful accountability takes place,\u201d said a US official who declined to be named. \u201cWe have been emphasising that we hope that India will move as quickly as possible through their investigative process.\u201d
\nThe Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Washington\u2019s message to Indian officials has not been previously reported.
\nLast week, an unsealed indictment showed that the United States had charged Vikash Yadav, described as a former officer in India\u2019s Research and Analysis Wing spy service, with directing the plot against a Sikh separatist in New York City.
\nThe indictment alleged that beginning in May 2023, Yadav, described as an employee of the Indian government at the time, worked with others in India and abroad to direct a plot against Pannun.
\nThe accusations have tested Washington\u2019s relations with India, which the Biden administration sees as a potential counterbalance to China\u2019s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
\n\u201cIndia remains an incredibly important and valuable strategic partner,\u201d the US official said. \u201cWe also have to have trust and an ability to work through very difficult issues like this transparently.\u201d
\nIndia has labelled Sikh separatists as \u201cterrorists\u201d and threats to its security. Sikh separatists demand an independent homeland known as Khalistan, which would be carved out of India. An insurgency in India during the 1980s and 1990s killed tens of thousands.
\nPannun, the Sikh separatist, has alleged that Yadav was a \u201cmid-tier soldier\u201d assigned the task of organising the assassination by higher-level Indian officials.
\nIndia has said little publicly since announcing in November 2023 that it would formally investigate the allegations, and it has separately continued a diplomatic dispute with Canada over the June 2023 assassination of another Sikh leader.
\nCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September 2023 his country\u2019s intelligence agency was pursuing credible allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s government was behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist.
\nIndia has denied involvement in both incidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington United States officials have told their Indian counterparts they want a speedy result and more accountability after their investigation into Indian involvement in a foiled murder plot against a Sikh activist in the US, according to an official. An Indian Inquiry Committee visited Washington last week to discuss India\u2019s own investigations after the Justice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-438937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n