[Feng Yaren, special correspondent of Global Times in the United States, Liu Haoran, special correspondent of Global Times] On November 29, local time, the US Department of Justice said that the assassination of Sikh separatists in American territory was planned by an Indian official.
According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on November 30th, the federal prosecutor in new york, USA, filed a public prosecution against Nichil Gupta, a 52-year-old Indian male suspect. According to the relevant indictment, the suspect cooperated with an Indian government official, who claimed to be a "senior field officer" in charge of "security management" and "intelligence" and had served in the Central Reserve Police Force of India. The official "directed this conspiracy in India". According to reports, the target of their assassination is Gulpatvant Pannon, the general counsel of Sikh Justice, which has dual citizenship of the United States and Canada. Pannon is one of the main advocates to promote the establishment of a Sikh independent country "Kalistan" in India, and is characterized as a "terrorist" by the Indian government.
According to the Associated Press reported on November 30, Gupta was recruited by an Indian official in May this year, and the two met in New Delhi to discuss the assassination of Pannon. So Gupta contacted a criminal partner and tried to find a killer to carry out the assassination. Unexpectedly, this criminal accomplice was an "informant" planted by the US Drug Control Bureau. The US Drug Control Bureau arranged an undercover agent to pretend to be a "killer" and offered $100,000 to induce him to "set up". After Indian officials agreed to this price, on June 9, Gupta remitted $15,000 in advance for the "killer", leaving conclusive evidence. According to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic, Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, but it is uncertain when this person will be extradited to the United States and tried. Once convicted, Gupta will face up to 20 years in prison.
In the eyes of American prosecutors, this case is very bad in nature, and the suspect actually tried to assassinate an American citizen in the United States. Prosecutor Damian Williams said: "We will not tolerate such things and are always ready to investigate." On November 29th, before the publication of the indictment of the US prosecutor, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that a "high-level investigation committee has been set up to conduct a thorough investigation on this issue". In a statement, Alinda Bagchi, a spokesman for the Indian Foreign Ministry, said that India "takes some information shared by the US seriously, because it also violates our national security interests, and relevant departments have been studying this issue".
The Associated Press said that the US government had been informed of the assassination plot as early as late July this year, and raised the matter with the Indian side on several occasions. US President Biden once appointed CIA Director Burns to India to convey the message, stressing that "the United States will not tolerate such actions". Biden also talked with Indian Prime Minister Modi at the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September this year. Sullivan, Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Affairs, even issued a direct warning in a contact with Indian National Security Advisor Dorval, saying that the United States needs to "ensure that such a thing will not happen again", otherwise it will inevitably lead to "permanent damage to the relationship of mutual trust between the two countries".
Among the latest evidence disclosed by American prosecutors, Gupta once revealed the assassination plan in Canada to American undercover agents pretending to be "killers", and once said that "there are many people we have to get rid of", and Pannon is the next target after Nija. Gujarat Singh, a Sikh activist in Canada, said: "The US prosecution confirms that India is engaged in transnational terrorist acts, including in the United States and Canada."
On November 29th, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau also made a speech on the US Department of Justice accusing Indian officials of planning an assassination, directly expressing his dissatisfaction with India. Trudeau said: "The news from the United States further confirmed my previous statement that the Indian side should pay attention to such incidents." In June this year, Nijar, a Canadian citizen and Sikh leader, was killed in Canada. At that time, Trudeau declared in Parliament that the government had "reliable information" and could confirm that there was support from the Indian government behind the assassination. The Indian side denied this and called Canada’s accusation "absurd". After that, the two countries expelled diplomatic officials from each other, and the relationship between the two sides fell to freezing point.
Reuters believes that as Canada continues to pursue the murder of Nijar and India will be busy with domestic elections, "it is unlikely that both Delhi and Ottawa will take major measures to break the ice". According to the report, both the United States and Canada hope to establish better relations with India to "counter China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region", but the latest accusation against India by the US Department of Justice obviously undermines this effort.