NEW YORK: A Sikh separatist movement leader, who was the target of an alleged India-led murder plot, said the United States and Canada must get tougher on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for trying to silence dissidents on foreign soil.

The US Justice Department has unsealed indictments against two Indian nationals in connection with an alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, in New York. The two Indian accused included an ex-government official, who the indictment said worked as an intelligence officer at the time and had orchestrated the assassination plan.

The Modi government should not be allowed to conduct hostile activity in foreign countries, Pannun said, adding that said India’s consulates in the US and Canada were running a “spy network”.

The US and Canada “need to put their foot down that regimes like Modi’s…should not be allowed to come to America or Canada, challenge their sovereignty and get away with it. They need to put their foot down and close (the consulates) permanently,” he said.

Pannun did not elaborate on the alleged spy network. Similar assertions have been made by Sikh activists in America and Canada.

India’s foreign ministry did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters regarding Pannun’s allegations. India, where Pannun was born, has labelled him a terrorist since 2020.

The US and Canadian authorities declined comment on the serious allegations against India, though both countries had earlier alleged Indian agents were involved in assassination plots in their countries last year against campaigners for ‘Khalistan’, a Sikh homeland they want carved out of India’s Punjab state where thousands of people have been since the 1980s.

India has denied involvement in any of the assassination plots.

The allegations have damaged India’s ties with Canada and tested relations between Washington and New Delhi.

Pannun said the former Indian official indicted by the US for the alleged attempt on his life, Vikash Yadav, was “just a middle-tier soldier”, assigned the task of organising the assassination by higher-level Indian officials. He did not offer any proof nor say how he had come to the conclusion.

New Delhi has said Yadav was no longer a government employee, without saying whether he had been an intelligence officer.

Pannun, who has been holding independent referendums in the US, Canada and Europe on creating Khalistan, said in the interview his movement advocates peaceful resolution of the matter, and will continue despite threats to his life.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2024