US-India exchanging briefings on alleged plot against Khalistani: State Dept
The panel set up by India to investigate allegations regarding a murder-for-hire plot against a US-based Khalistani and US government agencies have been exchanging briefings, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
“We have been regularly briefing them on the results of our investigation,” Miller said on Tuesday during a briefing for foreign correspondents. He added that “not just the State Department but other agencies inside the United States Government” have been receiving reports from India about their own commission of inquiry.
India had set up the panel last year to “look into all aspects of the matter” after the US filed charges against an Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, alleging that he was involved in a murder-for-hire plot in New York against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani leader. This year, a former police officer who had worked with RAW, Vikash Yadav, was also charged as an alleged co-conspirator.
When asked if the matter had been discussed during Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu’s recent trip to India, Miller said he could not speak about the visit. However, he added, “I can tell you in all of our senior-level engagements with the Government of India, this is a matter that we raise.” He emphasized that the US has made clear to India that they ultimately want to see accountability for the crime.
Gupta has denied the charges in the US federal court, where he is being tried after being arrested in the Czech Republic and extradited to the US.
Miller also denied allegations from the BJP that the State Department was trying to destabilize India. “It’s completely not true,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had alleged earlier this month that, in conjunction with the State Department, US “deep state” elements had colluded with certain journalists and political leaders to derail India’s growth by making unsubstantiated allegations without evidence. He referred to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), whose reports have been used by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to criticize Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Patra claimed that the project receives funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and figures like billionaire George Soros.
Miller did not directly address whether the project received funding from USAID, an agency that works closely with the State Department. However, he stated, “We provide professional development training for journalists around the world as part of the commitment that we have to freedom of expression and press freedom. For that somehow to be associated with undermining what is a close partner of the United States is just absurd.”
