The Biden administration on Wednesday officially said that the US is working with India to hold accountable those behind a plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Last year, Indian national Nikhil Gupta was charged by federal prosecutors in connection with his involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate Pannun.
Gupta has been charged that he was working with an Indian government employee and had agreed to pay an assassin $1,00,000 to kill Pannun. The Khalistani terrorist has dual citizenship in the US and Canada.
During a Congressional hearing, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, "This is a serious issue. A serious issue between the United States and India. The Department of Justice has alleged that an Indian citizen at the behest of someone working in the Indian government has attempted to kill an American citizen on American soil. We take this in the administration incredibly seriously and have raised it at the highest levels with India".
Lu said that India has also created a committee of inquiry to look into this matter.
"We ask them to work quickly and transparently to make sure justice is done," Lu added.
However, India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) said at least one person directly involved in the alleged plot is employed by the Indian government but is no longer working for a foreign spy agency.
India has submitted the findings of the government-appointed investigation panel to US authorities as per RAW.
Notably, Pannun is a designated as a terrorist by the Union home ministry under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
He has been on the NIA's radar since 2019 when the anti-terror federal agency registered its first case against the terrorist, who has been playing a major role in promoting and commissioning terror acts and activities, and spreading fear and terror in Punjab and other parts of the country.
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