Nikhil Gupta, the businessman accused in the U.S. for an assassination plot against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has not asked for consular help, said the Ministry of External Affairs. Mr. Gupta was produced in a New York court on Monday after battling his extradition from the Czech Republic for nearly a year. He pleaded “not guilty” to charges that he hired a hitman at the behest of a senior Indian security official to kill Mr. Pannun, in return for having cases against him dropped in India.
“We have so far not received any request for consular access from Mr. Gupta, but his family has got in touch with us, and we are in touch with the family members, and we are looking at the matter, as to what can be done,” said Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, confirming that Mr. Gupta was extradited to the U.S. on June 14.
In a statement this week, U.S. Attorney-General Merrick Garland had said Mr. Gupta will “now face justice” in an American courtroom. “This extradition makes it clear that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to silence or harm American citizens,” he added.
The government has denied that killing or targeting Khalistani separatists abroad is “Indian policy”. However, after U.S. agencies filed charges against Mr. Gupta in November, and identified - without naming - an Indian official while publishing transcripts, which if proven may implicate others in India’s security structure and leadership, the Ministry announced a “high-level” enquiry panel into the charges levelled by the U.S.
When asked by The Hindu last month why no details about the composition of the committee, or its investigation thus far had been announced more than six months later, the Ministry spokesperson that he could only confirm “that the high-level committee has been constituted and the high-level committee is looking into all the inputs that were shared with us”.
Meanwhile, India has consistently denied similar charges made by Canada on the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, accusing Canada of continuing to give safe haven to violent, extremist Khalistani groups. Reacting to the Canadian Parliament’s decision to stand for a moment of silence this week to mark Nijjar’s death anniversary, Mr. Jaiswal said India opposes “any moves giving political space to extremism and those advocating violence”. “To advocate anti-India agenda is the real problem. And therefore, we have time and again been insisting that Canadian authorities take strict action against them,” he added, referring to Nijjar supporters who took out rallies and held “mock-court trials accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his killing”.
The Ministry also took sharp aim at Australian Broadcaster ABC for a recent documentary entitled “Spies, secrets and threats: How the Modi regime targets people overseas”, which alleged that four Indian diplomats were expelled from Australia for espionage and spying over Khalistani activists, and contained accusations that groups allied to the BJP were engaged in “political interference” in Australia.
“The documentary is biased and reflects unprofessional reporting. It appears to serve a particular agenda to malign India. We obviously oppose any such attempts to condone, justify, or even glorify terrorism,” said Mr. Jaiswal on Friday, but did not respond to specific questions about the alleged expulsion of Indian diplomats.
Published - June 21, 2024 09:19 pm IST
