India takes security inputs from US seriously: MEA on plot to kill Pannun

India on Wednesday said it takes inputs on security matters from the US seriously since they impinge on its own national security concerns as well.

The remarks from the Ministry of External Affairs came on a day British daily Financial Times said that the US had thwarted an attempt to kill Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.

"During the course of recent discussions on India-US security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others," Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in response to queries on the British media report.

He said the inputs were a cause of concern for both countries and they decided to take necessary follow-up action.

"On its part, India takes such inputs seriously since it impinges on our own national security interests as well," Bagchi said.

The spokesman said issues in the context of US inputs are already being examined by relevant departments.

 

A CONSPIRACY and A WARNING

- This report comes two months after Canada said there were “credible” allegations linking Indian agents to the June murder of a Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Vancouver suburb
 

- Apart from the diplomatic warning to India, US federal prosecutors have also filed a sealed indictment against at least one suspect in a New York district court
 

- The US justice department is debating whether to unseal the indictment and make the allegations public or wait until Canada finishes its investigation into the murder of Nijjar
 

- One person charged in the indictment is believed to have left the US
 

- Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American and Canadian citizen who is general counsel for Sikhs for Justice, declined to say whether US authorities had warned him about the plot