The United States has expressed satisfaction with the cooperation provided by the Indian inquiry committee during their meeting regarding the alleged foiled assassination plot targeting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani terrorist, and said that the meeting was “productive.”
US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that the individual named in the justice department indictment, who was allegedly involved in the assassination plan of Pannun, is no longer employed by the Indian government.
He stated, “We updated the members of the committee of inquiry about the investigation that the US has been conducting and we have received an update from them on investigations that they have been conducting. It was a productive meeting. They did inform us that the individual who was named in the justice department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government.”
” We are satisfied with the cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours,” he added.
When asked about any further meetings with the Indian inquiry committee, Miller said, “I don’t have anything to announce today.”
The accused, Nikhil Gupta, was extradited from the Czech Republic to the US in June to face trial, where he entered a plea of ‘not guilty.’ Pannun, the target of the alleged assassination plot, is an India-designated terrorist holding both American and Canadian citizenship.
According to the US justice department, Nikhil Gupta, 53, was arrested and detained in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, and extradited pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic. Gupta arrived in the United States on June 14
In response to the security concerns raised by the US government, India formed a high-level inquiry committee in November last year. The ministry of external affairs emphasized that India takes such inputs seriously, as they have implications for national security, and the relevant departments were already examining the issue.