US says ‘so far satisfied’ with Indian accountability on Pannun murder plot

The United States is so far satisfied with India’s moves to ensure accountability in connection with the alleged assassination plot against Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, its ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, has said.

At a Washington event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations, a top American think-tank, Eric Garcetti also said many steps were yet to be taken, calling it a “red line for America” for which there must be consequences.

Garcetti’s remark came when he was asked what effect the recent discovery of assassination plots against Sikh nationalists in Canada and the United States could have on Washington’s relations with New Delhi.

“When I was referring to a relationship that might have bumps along the road, this would be potentially the first big fight in a relationship,” he told the Council on Foreign Relations.

“So far, knock on wood, I would say the administration is satisfied with the accountability that we’ve demanded on this, because this is a red line for America, for our citizens, and a core part of what we need to do,” he added.

Garcetti said a criminal case and indictment had been brought “and if there is any connection to state actors in that, there has to be accountability.”

“We expect that not only from our side, but we expect India to have that accountability.”

The US Ambassador to India also noted that India had set up a commission of inquiry.

“We expect, while we do the criminal case that is about American justice, that there need to be consequences and shared information. And so far… I have been satisfied with what they have done. I think the administration is, but we have many steps still to go,” he said at the event.

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun.

Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. He has been designated as a terrorist by the Union Home Ministry under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The allegations about the failed plot to kill Pannun came to the fore weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in September last year of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

WHAT GARCETTI SAID ON DEMOCRACY IN INDIA

Speaking at the event, Garcetti also dismissed concerns being raised in certain quarters about democracy in India and observed that in many ways Indians are better than Americans.

“Again, there are things that probably are worse and there are things that are better. They have a law, you can’t go more than two kilometres to vote. So there’ll be one guy who lives in the mountains as a monk (at) someplace. They will walk for two days to bring the voting machine, execute the vote,” he said, responding to a question expressing concerns over the status of democracy in India.

He said that during election times in India, there are people who check trucks to make sure that nobody has cash going around.

“There’s probably walk-in money, as they call it in some cities here in the United States, Philadelphia, that’s like a tradition where cash kind of gets you votes and things like that. So, I’ve been impressed with certain things they do that are better than us.”

“I 100 percent believe we can trust this relationship. It’s going to be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century, the US and India together,” Garcetti said on Indo-US ties.