US-India exchanging briefings on alleged plot against Khalistani: State Dept

New York (The Uttam Hindu): The panel set up by India to enquire into allegations about a murder-for-hire plot against a US-based Khalistani and US government agencies have been exchanging briefings, according to State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller. “We have been regularly briefing them on the results of our investigation”, he said on Tuesday at a briefing for foreign correspondents. And “not just the State Department but other agencies inside the United States Government” as well, “have been receiving reports from them (India) about their own commission of inquiry”, he said. India had set up the panel last year to “look into all aspects of the matter” after the US filed charges against an Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, alleging that he was involved in a murder-for-hire plot in New York against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani leader.

This year a former police officer who had worked with RAW, Vikash Yadav, was also charged as an alleged co-conspirator. Asked if the matter had been discussed during Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu's recent trip to India, Miller said that he could not speak about the visit, but added, “I can tell you in all of our senior-level engagements with the Government of India, this is a matter that we raise.” “What we have emphasised to them is that what we ultimately want to see for this crime is accountability”, he said. Gupta has denied the charges in the US federal court where he is being tried after being arrested in the Czech Republic and extradited to the US. Miller denied allegations by the BJP that the State Department was trying to destabilise India. “It’s completely not true”, he said. BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged this month that acting in conjunction with the State Department, US “deep state” elements have colluded with some journalists and some political leaders to derail India’s growth by making unsubstantiated allegations without a “shred of evidence.”

He referred to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), whose reports have been used by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Patra said that according to reports, the project receives funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and “deep state figures” like billionaire gadfly George Soros. Miller did not address whether the project received funding from USAID, an agency that works closely with the State Department, but said, “We provide professional development training for journalists around the world as part of the commitment that we have to freedom of expression and press freedom. “For that somehow to be associated with undermining what is a close partner of the United States is just absurd.”