US raises concerns with India about reports of Sikh separatist assassination plot

The U.S. has raised concerns with India about reports of an assassination plot against an American Canadian Sikh separatist leader.

The Financial Times reported Wednesday about allegations that the U.S. had thwarted a plot to kill Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement to The Hill: “We are treating this issue with utmost seriousness, and it has been raised by the U.S. Government with the Indian Government, including at the senior-most levels.”

The statement further added that its Indian counterparts “expressed surprise and concern” and said such activity was not consistent with their policy.

“Based on discussion with senior U.S. Government officials, we understand the Indian government is further investigating this issue and will have more to say about it in the coming days. We have conveyed our expectation that anyone deemed responsible should be held accountable,” Watson said.

The Financial Times reported that the U.S. informed some allies of the alleged plot. Pannun declined to comment to the outlet on whether he had been warned about the plot.

Pannun, in an email to The Hill, accused India of using terrorism to halt his calls for an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan within India.

“The foiled attempt on my life on American soil by the Indian agents is transnational terrorism which is a threat to the US sovereignty, freedom of speech and democracy, so I will let the U.S. government respond to this threat,” he said.

According to The Associated Press, it is unclear when or how U.S. officials became aware of the plot, or how the alleged assassination attempt was thwarted. The report added the FBI is investigating the matter.

Pannun is the general counsel for Sikhs for Justice, a U.S.-based group that has been calling for an Indian independent Sikh state called “Khalistan.”

He was recently booked by Indian authorities under the country’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and designated as an “individual terrorist” after he released a video urging Sikhs not to fly Air India.

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a statement that “Pannun threatened that Air India would not be allowed to operate in the world … in his video messages, released on Nov. 4,”

However, Reuters reported that Pannun told the agency that his message was to “boycott Air India, not bomb,” and that the Indian government was engaging in a disinformation tactic to “crush freedom of expression.”

The Hill has reached out the the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

The new allegations come months after a dramatic escalation of tensions between Canada and India after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau levied accusations of the Indian government’s involvement in an assassination of a Canadian citizen on its soil.

Trudeau said in September there were “credible allegations” that India was involved in the killing of 45-year-old Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar — a self-described “Sikh nationalist who believes in and supports Sikhs’ right to self-determination.”