'Good, appropriate': Blinken on India setting up probe into alleged murder attempt on Sikh separatist Pannun

Washington, December 1

New Delhi announcing an investigation into allegations by the US that an Indian official was involved in a foiled plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in the United States is “good and appropriate”, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

“The government announced today that it was conducting an investigation, and that’s good and appropriate, and we look forward to seeing the results,” Blinken told reporters travelling with him in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Blinken was responding to a question on the appearance of an unnamed Indian official in an indictment filed by federal US prosecutors in a Manhattan court on Wednesday along with an Indian national, who the Department of Justice alleges hired someone in the US to assassinate Pannun, a vocal critic of India and espousing the cause of separate Khalistan.

“This is an ongoing legal matter. So you’ll understand I can’t comment on it in detail. I can say that this is something we take very seriously. A number of us have raised this directly with the Indian Government in past weeks,” Blinken said.