'Few Incidents Can't Derail India-US Ties': PM Modi On Allegations Of Plot To Assassinate Khalistani Terrorist Pannun

In his first public statement since the US federal prosecutors alleged involvement of an Indian government employee in a plot to kill American-Canadian citizen and Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (19 December) said that the allegations will be examined.

"If someone gives us any information, we would definitely look into it," the Prime Minister told the Financial Times.

"If a citizen of ours has done anything good or bad, we are ready to look into it," he added.

"Our commitment is to the rule of law," he said.

India had designated Pannun as a terrorist in 2020, and has also repeatedly accused western countries of not taking seriously its security concerns about Sikh separatism, which has a long and bloody history in the country.

He said India was “deeply concerned about the activities of certain extremist groups based overseas”. 

“These elements, under the guise of freedom of expression, have engaged in intimidation and incited violence," PM Modi added.

On the impact of charges on India-US relationship, PM Modi emphasised that "a few incidents" could not derail ties between two of the largest economies and most prominent democracies in the world.

“Security and counter-terrorism co-operation has been a key component of our partnership,” he said.

“I don’t think it is appropriate to link a few incidents with diplomatic relations between the two countries," he added.

According to US officials, Nikhil Gupta and an Indian government employee, referred to as CC-1, began a sequence of phone and digital communications in May.

The Indian government employee allegedly asked Gupta to arrange a murder, promising in return to help drop a criminal case against Gupta in India.

The US also reported that the two had a face-to-face meeting in Delhi.

In response to the allegations, the Ministry of External Affairs stated, "India takes such inputs seriously, since they impinge on our national security interests as well, and relevant departments are already examining the issue".

India also set up a high-level inquiry committee to look into the issue.