- Saturday, July 27, 2024
The White House said Finer acknowledged New Delhi’s establishment of a committee of enquiry to probe “lethal plotting” on American soil.
By: Shubham Ghosh
US PRINCIPAL deputy national security adviser (NSA) Jon Finer has spoken with top officials of the Indian government this week over the alleged involvement of an Indian national in the foiled bid to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the White House has confirmed.
Finer led a delegation to India this week and spoke to his Indian counterpart Vikram Misri, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra and also called on Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval.
In a readout, the White House said Finer acknowledged New Delhi’s establishment of a committee of enquiry to probe “lethal plotting” on American soil and the significance of holding accountable anybody who has been found responsible.
India, which was accused by Canada in September of engaging in the assassination of another Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on its soil and the matter resulted in a massive diplomatic spat, had earlier said that it had set up an enquiry committee to look into the information shared by Washington about the alleged involvement of the identified but unnamed Indian official in the assassination plot.
The United States has expressed its anticipation to receive information from India regarding the results of the probe. In the preceding week, officials in Washington formally charged the Indian national implicated in the conspiracy, who purportedly acted under the direction of the Indian official.
Finer led the American delegation to India for an inter-sessional review of the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) with Misri.
The White House said the iCET is a major milestone in the two countries’ bilateral ties that are increasingly defined by strategic security and cooperation in technology.
