India on Wednesday strongly trashed as "smear campaign" a Canadian media report that claimed that the Indian prime minister was aware of the alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Referring to the report quoting an unnamed official, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said such "ludicrous statements" should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. "We do not normally comment on media reports. However, such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian government source should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve," he said. "Smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties," he said. Jaiswal was responding to media queries regarding the report in Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. In the report, the newspaper cited inputs from a senior national security official. The report claimed the Indian national security advisor and the external affairs minister were also in the loop of the ...
While addressing a press briefing, Miller noted that they have raised the issue with the Indian government and told them that the US expects full investigation into the matter
Trudeau's remarks follow his meeting with Prime Minister Modi in Italy during the G7 Summit where India was invited as an Outreach country
Indian national Nikhil Gupta, accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against a Sikh extremist on American soil, pleaded not guilty as he was arraigned in federal court here. Gupta was extradited to the US from the Czech Republic on June 14, which court records show as the day of his arrest in the US. He made his first appearance in Manhattan federal court before Magistrate Judge James Cott on Monday afternoon for his arraignment and pleaded not guilty. Gupta's attorney Jeffrey Chabrowe entered the "not guilty" plea on his behalf. Gupta is being held in a Brooklyn detention facility. Gupta is charged with murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each charge. The next court hearing in the case is on June 28. Court records show that a status conference has been set for June 28 before Judge Victor Marrero. During the initial appearance, Gupta's lawyer told the judge that his client is a ..
Indian national Nikhil Gupta, 53, accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against a Sikh extremist on American soil, will now face justice in a US courtroom, Attorney General Merrick Garland has said, asserting that the country will not tolerate attempts to harm its citizens. Gupta, 53, also known as Nick, was arrested and detained in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, at the request of the US government on charges of being involved in a plot to assassinate Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. He was extradited to the US on June 14. Gupta was produced before a federal court in New York on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty, according to his attorney, Jeffrey Chabrowe. "This extradition makes clear that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to silence or harm American citizens," Garland said on Monday. "Nikhil Gupta will now face justice in an American courtroom for his involvement in an alleged plot, directed by an employee of the ..
Misinformation and false narratives are being created about Indian democracy in the West in the middle of an election cycle in India, a prominent Indian American said on Sunday, observing that some people in the West continue to have a colonial mentality. Chicago-based Dr. Baharat Barai, in an interview, hit out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not taking action against Sikh separatists who are openly planning and supporting violence inside India and Indian leaders. The Khalistan problem is only in Canada, maybe a little bit in the USA. If the US government wants to give them a piece of land, let them be happy. After all, they're foreign citizens. They're either citizens of the USA or citizens of Canada. What right do they have to interfere in what is happening in India? Dr Barai told PTI in an interview here. If they want a separate land for them, let (Canadian Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau give it to them. If the USA thinks that that's a good idea (let them do so)we
The United States is working with the Indian government to hold accountable those behind a plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, according to the Biden administration. An Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, was charged by federal prosecutors in November last year in connection with his involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. US federal prosecutors have charged that Gupta was working with an Indian government employee and had agreed to pay an assassin USD 1,00,000 to kill Pannun, who lives in New York City. India has already constituted a probe committee to investigate the allegations. During a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, "This is a serious issue. A serious issue between the United States and India. The Department of Justice has alleged that an Indian citizen at th
India is now cooperating with Canada in the ongoing probe into the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia and bilateral ties are improving following months of tensions over the matter, a former Canadian national security advisor has said, describing the changing relationship as an evolution. The remarks by Canada's former national security advisor Jody Thomas came during an interview with CTV on Friday. She said India is now cooperating in the ongoing probe into the killing of Khalistani separatist and designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder in June last year in the Canadian city of Surrey. This is the first time a Canadian official has acknowledged that India has moved things forward following allegations of non-cooperation against India by Canada amid tensions over Nijjar's killing. The relations between the two countries saw some bitterness last year following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegation about India's suspected involvement in th
The US government has objected to providing defence materials to Indian national Nikhil Gupta, detained in a Czech prison on murder-for-hire charges in a foiled assassination attempt on a Khalistani extremist, saying it will provide the information only upon his appearance in a New York court and arraignment in the case. Gupta, 52, was charged by federal prosecutors here in an indictment unsealed in November last year with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual US and Canadian citizenships, on American soil. Gupta was arrested in Prague, the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023 and is being held there currently. The US government is seeking his extradition to America. Gupta's attorney filed a Motion to Compel Production of Discovery' on January 4 in the US District Court, Southern District of New York requesting the Court to direct federal prosecutors to provide the defence materials relevant to
India on Thursday said its "core" issue with Canada remained that of the space given to anti-India elements operating from that country. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing that India also hoped that Canada will take action against the separatists and anti-India elements. The core issue remains the space being given to the separatists and anti-India elements, Bagchi said. The ties between India and Canada have been under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September linking Indian agents to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. India strongly rejected the charges.
Suspected members of a separatist group killed 11 people and injured several others in a nighttime attack on a police station in southeastern Iran, state TV said Friday. The deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchistan province, Ali Reza Marhemati, said senior police officers and soldiers were killed in the 2 am attack in Rask town, about 1,400 kilometers (875 miles) southwest of Tehran. He said police killed several of the attackers in a shootout. State TV blamed the attack on Jaish al-Adl, a separatist group. In 2019, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a bus that killed 27 members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard force. In recent months, militants and small separatist groups in the predominantly Sunni region have attacked police stations as part of a low-level insurgency against the government.
New Delhi set up an investigating committee last week after the US alleged that an Indian government agent was involved in the foiled assassination attempt of a Sikh separatist leader in New York
India is a strategic partner for the United States, the White House has said as it urged New Delhi to hold accountable those responsible for the plot to assassinate a separatist Sikh leader, who is an American citizen. India is a strategic partner. We're deepening that strategic partnership. They're a member of the Quad in the Pacific. We participate with them on a range of issues and we want to see that continue unabated. That said, at the same time, we certainly recognise the seriousness of these allegations, National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at a White House news conference here. Kirby was responding to a question on the impact that the alleged plot would have on the bilateral India-US relationship. We want it fully investigated and those responsible to be held properly accountable, he said. It's under active investigation. We've said that we're glad that our Indian counterparts are taking it seriously and doing that. We want those responsible for these ...
In a video, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun featured a poster of Afzal Guru, who was convicted for 2001 Parliament attack, with the caption 'Delhi Banega Khalistan'
Not really, as the turn of events looks like becoming a millstone around the govt's neck as the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing on it
India has constituted a high-level inquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill a Sikh extremist on American soil. The Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, last week reported that US authorities thwarted a plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, and issued a warning to the Indian government over concerns it was involved in the plot. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India constituted a high-level inquiry committee on November 18 to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter. "We have already said that during the course of discussions with the US on bilateral security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others," Bagchi said. He was replying to a media query on the matter. "We had also indicated that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on our national security interests as well, and relevant departments were already
The Biden administration, because of the significance it attaches to its ties with New Delhi, bent backwards to be very polite in its public responses following the Canadian allegations against India over the killing of one of its citizens, a top American expert on India-US relations has said. I think the US response was actually quite remarkable because Canada is a very close ally, and if it was any other country than India, I think the US response would've been much more vocal and much more strident, Ashley J Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the prestigious Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told PTI in an interview. Tellis was responding to a question on the criticism in India about the US response to the Canadian allegations that they were investigating allegations that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. India has dismissed the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated
The Manipur government has strongly condemned the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum's (ITLF) call for "self-governed separate administration" in districts dominated by members of the Kuki-Zo community and termed it as illegal. State government spokesperson and Education Minister Th Basantakumar Singh told reporters on Thursday night that "the irresponsible statements appear to be motivated and aimed at vitiating and disturbing the law and order situation in the state." "Meeting of the ruling party legislators held on Thursday strongly condemned the statement and appropriate legal actions is being initiated against ITLF and persons concerned," the minister said. ITLF, a frontal organisation of Kuki-Zo tribes in Manipur, had on Wednesday threatened to establish a "self-governed separate administration" in areas where these tribes have a majority. The forum said even after more than six months of ethnic strife in the northeastern state, the central government is yet to accept their dema
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Pannun claimed that Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport would remain shut on November 19 and that its name would be changed