On Washington Post's 'Pannun Assassination Plot By RAW' Claim, MEA's Stern Response

The Washington Post, in its report, named an Indian official for allegedly plotting Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's assassination.

The External Affairs Ministry today issued a strong rebuttal to a Washington Post report which claimed that Research and Analysis Wing officials were behind the alleged assassination plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The Washington Post's report comes months after the Financial Times made similar claims related to Pannun's assassination in November last year.

The Washington Post, in its report, named an Indian official for allegedly plotting Pannun's assassination. However, India today said the report made 'unwarranted and unsubstantiated' imputations on a serious matter.

"The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputation on the serious matter. There is an ongoing investigation of the High Level Committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful," said the MEA in a statement.

In its report, the Washington Post said, "That India would pursue lethal operations in North America has stunned Western security officials. In some ways, however, it reflects a profound shift in geopolitics. After years of being treated as a second-tier player, India sees itself as a rising force in a new era of global competition, one that even the United States cannot afford to alienate." It names a RAW official to claim that India was plotting the said assassination.

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun, a Sikh extremist on American soil. 
Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada.

On December 7, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament that 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.