Report: US Thwarted Plot to Kill Sikh Separatist

Facts

• US authorities claim to have foiled a plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil, prompting a diplomatic warning to India over its potential involvement in the matter, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.¹
• According to the report, unnamed sources familiar with the case didn't specify whether the alleged plot to assassinate the New York-based lawyer was abandoned after the US intervened or was prevented by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).²
• The case had been discussed with the Indian government 'at the senior-most levels,' the US National Security Council said in a statement on Wednesday. New Delhi expressed 'surprise and concern' after being approached by the US, which called on India to investigate the case and bring anyone responsible to justice.³
• Following the report’s publication, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement it had received 'some inputs' from the US during recent talks on India-US security ties regarding links between organized crime, arms smugglers, terrorists, and others, though it didn't reference Pannun — who's designated a terrorist by the Indian government.⁴
• Pannun is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, a US-based activist group linked to the movement for a separate Sikh state, known as Khalistan, to be carved out of India's Punjab state. In a statement, the Sikh activist called the alleged conspiracy an act of 'transnational terrorism' and a 'threat to the US sovereignty.'⁵
• The report on the alleged plot against the US and Canadian citizen comes after Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested in September that New Delhi was behind the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Khalistani separatist, in British Columbia in June. New Delhi denied any complicity in the unsolved killing, investigated by Canada and the US.⁶

Sources: ¹FT, ²Independent, ³Washington Post, ⁴The Print, ⁵BBC News and ⁶The Hindu.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Print. It's still too early for any conclusions about the alleged Indian conspiracy to assassinate Pannun. All that's certain so far is that Pannun belongs to the obscure US-based activist group, outlawed in India, and is calling for an independent Sikh state. Moreover, the agitator, who has been designated a terrorist by India, repeatedly attracted attention by threatening Indians abroad, including diplomats. Pannun has many enemies, but India will play its part in solving the case in the interest of national security.
• Narrative B, as provided by Sikh Siyasat News. The fact that India is yet again suspected of being behind an assassination attempt on foreign soil, following the still unsolved murder of a Sikh activist in Canada, may point to a possible pattern of behavior. Washington has already been criticized by human rights groups for its moves to deepen ties with India, while this latest incident also poses a direct threat to US national security. The US shouldn't be guided by geopolitical considerations when investigating the attempted killing of a political enemy of India.

Predictions