New Delhi: Amid the escalating India-Canada row, the United States has said it is satisfied with the cooperation offered by the Indian inquiry committee during their meeting in connection with the alleged foiled assassination plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani terrorist. The US added that the meeting was “productive”.
US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller pointed out that the person named in the justice department indictment, who was alleged to have had a role in the assassination plot of Pannun, is no longer employed by the Indian government.
He said, “We updated the members of the Committee of Inquiry about the investigation that the US has been conducting and we have received an update from them on investigations that they have been conducting. It was a productive meeting. They did inform us that the individual, who was named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government.”
“We are satisfied with the cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours,” Miller told reporters at his daily news conference. When he was asked about any further meetings with the Indian inquiry committee, Miller clarified that he has nothing more to declare today.
Nikhil Gupta was arrested, detained in Czech Republic
In June, Nikhil Gupta, the accused, was extradited from the Czech Republic to the US to face trial, where he got into a plea of “not guilty”. Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who holds both American and Canadian citizenship.
The US Justice Department said that 53-year-old Nikhil Gupta was arrested and detained in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023. He was extradited in accordance with the bilateral extradition treaty between the US and the Czech Republic. Gupta landed in the US on June 14.
After the US government raised security concerns, India set up a high-level inquiry committee in November 2023. The ministry of external affairs underlined that India took such inputs very seriously, as they have an impact on national security, and the departments concerned were already looking into the issue.
