INDIA TERMS US MEDIA REPORT ON ALLEGED PANNUN MURDER PLOT 'IRRESPONSIBLE’

India on Tuesday rejected the Washington Post report that a former Research and Analysis Wing officer hired a hit team to kill US-based Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.

"The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

According to the report, Vikram Yadav hired a hit team to target Pannun. It alleged that the operation to kill Pannun was approved by Samant Goel, the then chief of India's spy agency RAW.

"There is an ongoing investigation of the high-level committee set up by the government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists, and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful," Jaiswal said.

Reacting to the report, the White House said that it viewed the reported role of RAW officials in two assassination plots in Canada and the United States as a serious matter.

"This is a serious matter, and we're taking that very, very seriously," Reuters quoted White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre as saying. “We're going to continue to raise our concerns."

These reports come after tensions flared in November 2022 when the Financial Times reported that the US had thwarted a plot to kill Pannun and issued a warning to India over its alleged involvement.

A subsequent indictment filed in a Manhattan court named Indian national Nikhil Gupta as a conspirator who allegedly collaborated with an unnamed Indian official, referred to as "CC-1," in the plot.

The Washington Post identified "CC-1" as Vikram Yadav, according to India.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said earlier this month that India's national security interests are involved in its investigation into the alleged involvement of a government official in the assassination plot aimed at Pannun.

He also said that a "red line" should not be crossed and "no country" or "no government employee" should be involved in the assassination of a foreign national.

(With agency inputs)

2024-04-30T05:39:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd