A top national security adviser to US President Joe Biden is in India to hold talks on various bilateral issues, includingallegations related to the assassination attempton Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu on American soil, the White House said.
“Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer led a delegation to New Delhi on December 4 to review the progress made in the ambitious US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) with India’s Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri,” the White House said in a statement on Monday.
“Finer acknowledged India’s establishment of a Committee of Enquiry to investigate lethal plotting in the United States and the importance of holding accountable anyone found responsible,” it read.
Last week, theUS Justice Department charged a 52-year-old Indian national,Nikhil Gupta, with involvement in an alleged murder plot against Pannun.
A press release by the US Justice Department, quoting court documents, said that earlier this year, “an Indian government employee, working together with others, including Gupta, in India and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate on US soil an attorney and political activist who is a US citizen of Indian-origin residing in New York City”.
In response, India expressed concern about one of its government officials being linked to the plot, from which it dissociated itself, as being against government policy.
India said last week it would formally investigate the concerns aired by the US, and take “necessary follow-up action” on the findings of a panel set up on November 18.
Finer met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and discussed developments in the Middle East, including the Israel-Hamas war, plans for a post-war Gaza and recent attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the White House said on Monday.
US panel seeks to put terrorist Pannun, members of his banned group on no-fly list
