- Saturday, April 19, 2025
If a citizen of ours has done anything, good or bad, we are ready to look into it. Our commitment is to the rule of law, the Indian PM told the Financial Times.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (19) broke his silence over the allegations that an Indian national plotted to murder American-Canadian Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, designated as a terrorist by New Delhi saying the charges will be looked into but “a few incidents” cannot derail ties between India and the US.
It was the Indian leader’s first public statement since American federal prosecutors announced murder-for-hire allegations against Nikhil Gupta in November.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Modi said, “If someone gives us any information, we will definitely look into it.
“If a citizen of ours has done anything, good or bad, we are ready to look into it. Our commitment is to the rule of law.
“There is, however, also strong bipartisan support for the strengthening of the India-US relationship, which is a clear indicator of a mature and stable partnership,” he told the British daily, which was the first to break the news of Gupta being accused, based on information gathered from sources.
Modi has been a frequent visitor to the US, a country which had banned him after the 2002 riots in the western Indian state of Gujarat of which he was the chief minister, since 2014. In June, he made his first official state visit to Washington. Modi flagged “security and cooperation in counter-terrorism” as key parts of the ties and said it would not be appropriate to connect a few incidents with the diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Washington.
Authorities in the US alleged that the 52-year-old Gupta exchanged communications over telephone and electronic medium with an Indian government staffer since May. During the talks, the latter allegedly asked the former to plan the killing.
In return, Gupta was promised aid in dropping a criminal case against him in India. The duo also met in person in Delhi, American prosecutors said. Gupta is accused of trying to rope in a hitman to eliminate Pannun but he turned out to be an undercover federal agent in the US.
Gupta faces 20-year jail term if convicted. The Indian government official has also been accused by the US authorities.
New Delhi said it takes such inputs seriously since they “impinge” on India’s national security interests and that relevant departments were already looking into the matter. A high-level probe committee has also been set up, the Indian government said.
The White House has called on the Indian government to hold those involved accountable. Secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington “looks forward to the results” of New Delhi’s inquiry.
The case has also prompted renewed scrutiny of allegations made by Canada in September. Prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government said it had “credible allegations” that an Indian government official was involved in the killing of Khalistan separatist leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
After the US’s charges were revealed last month, Trudeau told reporters it “… underscores what we’ve been talking about from the beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously.”
