'Look Forward To...': Blinken On India Probing Alleged Murder Bid On Sikh Separatist Pannun

Pannun Murder Plot: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was taking the allegations of the assassination plot 'very seriously'.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US President Joe Biden

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Indian government's decision to investigate the allegations of an Indian official's involvement in a foiled plot to murder Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun "good and appropriate". Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Israel, Blinken said, "The government has announced that it is conducting an investigation and that's good and appropriate. We look forward to seeing the results."

Blinken further said the United States was taking the allegations of the assassination plot "very seriously".

"This is an ongoing legal matter and it is something we take very seriously. A number of us have raised this directly with the Indian government in past weeks," he said.

READ | India Activates Back-Channel With Biden Admin As US Charges Indian National With Plotting Pannun Murder

Earlier this week, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted an Indian national, identified as Nikhil Gupta, in a foiled plot to assassinate a "US citizen in New York City" allegedly on behalf of an Indian government employee. The US indictment, however, did not name Pannun, the founder of the banned organisation Sikh for Justice (SFJ).

Nikhil Gupta has been taken into custody and charged with 'murder-for-hire', which carries a maximum imprisonment of 10 years.

Matter Of Concern, Says MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday called the development a "matter of concern" and contrary to government policy.

"As regards the case against an individual that has been filed in a US court allegedly linking him to an Indian official, this is a matter of concern. We have said and let me reiterate that this is contrary to government policy," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

Bagchi further said that a high-level probe committee had been formed to look into the security concerns shared by the US.

"The nexus between organised crime, trafficking and gun running and extremists at an international level is a serious issue for law enforcement agencies and organisations to consider and it is precisely for that reason that a high-level committee has been constituted and we will obviously be guided by its results," the spokesperson further said.