‘Continue to expect accountability’ from India on probe into Pannun plot says US

Washington/New Delhi, May 1 ,2024 : The United States has said it “continues to expect accountability” from the Government of India regarding the probe into an alleged plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, and is regularly working with India on the issue. Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, answering a question on the Washington Post story that named a RAW officer as being allegedly involved in a plot to eliminate Pannun, said: “So we continue to expect accountability from the Government of India based on the results of the Indian inquiry committee’s work, and we are regularly working with them and enquiring for additional updates. “We’ll also continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian Government at senior levels, but beyond that I’m not going to parse into this further and will defer to the Department of Justice.” The response comes as India on Tuesday dismissed the Washington Post report, even as the White House said that it is taking the matter “very, very seriously” and would continue to raise their concerns directly with the Indian government. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed as “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations” a Washington Post report that named RAW officer Vikram Yadav
as allegedly the one involved in the failed plot to assassinate Pannun on American soil, and that the operation was sanctioned by then spy chief Samant Goel. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on the issue: “This is a serious matter, and we’re taking that very, very seriously. The government of India has been very clear with us that they are taking this seriously and — and will investigate. And we expect that
accountability from the government based on that. “And so — but we’re going to continue to raise our concerns. That’s not going to stop. We’re going to continue to raise our concerns directly — directly with the Indian government,” she said. MEA spokesperson Jaiswal in a statement said the Washington Post “makes unwarranted andunsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter.” “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.” The Post report had quoted unnamed former US and Indian security officials to claim that Yadav had enlisted a “hit team” to carry out the alleged assassination bid and had also transmitted Pannun’s contact information, including his New York address, to the would-be assassins. It said that Yadav was a CRPF officer who moved to the RAW.The report added that the US Justice Department has opted not to bring charges against Yadav for the time being as part of the US’ strategy not to disrupt ties with India. The Washington Post report also claimed that “US spy agencies have more tentatively assessed that Modi’s national security adviser, Ajit Doval, was probably aware of RAW’s plans to kill Sikh activists, but officials emphasised that no smoking gun proof has emerged”.