Jaishankar says India formed inquiry committee following inputs from US

NEW DELHI: Days after Washington alleged an Indian link to a conspiracy to kill a Sikh separatist, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said India instituted an inquiry committee to look into the inputs received from the US in the case as the matter has a bearing on national security.

However, at the same time, Jaishankar told Rajya Sabha that there will be “no equitable treatment” to Canada’s allegations of potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of a Khalistani extremist as no specific evidence or inputs were provided to India by Ottawa.

“Insofar as the US is concerned, certain inputs were given to us as part of our security cooperation with the United States. Those inputs were of concern to us because they (were) related to the nexus of organised crime, trafficking, and other matters,” he said.

“Because they have a bearing on our national security, it was decided to institute an inquiry into the matter and an inquiry committee has been constituted,” he said.

Jaishankar’s remarks came in response to a supplementary question on the US linking an Indian official to an alleged attempt to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Asked why there was no equitable treatment about charges made by the Canadian government, Jaishankar said: “Insofar as Canada is concerned, no specific evidence or inputs were provided to us. So the question of equitable treatment to two countries, one of whom has provided input and one of whom has not, does not arise.”

“The US federal prosecutors have charged Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada.”

In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an explosive allegation of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June.

India has strongly rejected the allegations.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing that US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray’s upcoming visit to India should be seen in the context of overall cooperation between the two countries in areas of cyber-security, counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics.

“As you are aware, we have robust security, cyber-security, counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics cooperation with US agencies. We are also engaged in capacity-building programmes. So, as part of this ongoing bilateral cooperation, a visit by the FBI director is in the works,” he said.