https://sputniknews.in/20231130/india-doesnt-have-much-faith-in-biden-after-khalistan-row-analysts-5654127.html
India Doesn’t Have Much Faith in Biden After Khalistan Row: Analysts
India Doesn’t Have Much Faith in Biden After Khalistan Row: Analysts
Sputnik India
India’s trust in the Joe Biden administration has been “rapidly eroding” amid US Department of Justice (DoJ) publicizing an indictment alleging an Indian plot against pro-Khalistan terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
2023-11-30T19:24+0530
2023-11-30T19:24+0530
2023-11-30T19:24+0530
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India’s trust in the Joe Biden administration has been “rapidly eroding” amid US Department of Justice (DoJ) publicizing an indictment alleging an Indian plot against pro-Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, analysts have told Sputnik India.Pannun is a designated terrorist under India's Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He is the general counsel of New York-based group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which is also a banned terrorist group in India.Mitra cautioned that the Biden administration was allowing India-US ties to be “disrupted” because of the Khalistan issue.There are widespread concerns in India that the Biden administration is turning a blind eye to activities of people like Pannun, who this month threatened to blow up Air India planes and has incited calls to violence against Indian diplomats in the US and Canada.New Delhi has strongly pushed back against Biden administration’s criticism of India-Russia relations and growing energy ties between the two BRICS partners.India-US Ties Hit Because of BidenMitra blamed incoherence in Biden administration’s policy towards New Delhi to the “various factions” within the US government as well as in the Democratic Party.The Indian expert described Biden as an “extremely weak” president.In recent years, India-US ties have been on upswing as Washington looks to string together a network of allies and partners in Indo-Pacific to contain China. New Delhi, a ‘major defence partner’ of the US, has found a key place in Washington’s strategy in Indo-Pacific.Mitra also reckoned that Democratic Party factions were apparently playing up the alleged case against India for their own political ends.Binay Kumar Singh, a strategic affairs expert at New Delhi-based think tank the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, told Sputnik that the US was denting its credibility by shielding terrorists like Pannun, who has an Interpol 'Red Corner' notice against him.US Accuses India of Orchestrating an Assassination PlotThe comments by experts come against the backdrop of Department of Justice (DoJ) publicising “murder-for-hire” charges against Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta for allegedly participating in a plot to assassinate Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen.The US agencies have claimed that Gupta, 52, was being “directed” by an Indian government official from India. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June at the request of the Biden administration, according to DoJ.The alleged plot was foiled as Gupta hired an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, who was posing as a criminal, to execute the hit-job against Pannun, claim case papers.India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has constituted a “high-level enquiry” to probe the American claims.The MEA has also stated that carrying out assassinations are “contrary” to India’s policy.
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India Doesn’t Have Much Faith in Biden After Khalistan Row: Analysts
India has consistently urged the US to act against pro-Khalistan separatists for their involvement in terrorism, drug smuggling and other illegal activities. These calls have hardly been heeded to.
India’s trust in the Joe Biden administration has been “rapidly eroding” amid US Department of Justice (DoJ) publicizing an indictment alleging an Indian plot against pro-Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, analysts have told Sputnik India.
Pannun is a
designated terrorist under India's Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He is the general counsel of New York-based group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which is also a banned terrorist group in India.
“I hope it is not loss of strategic trust but there is certainly not much faith in the Biden administration,” stated Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, a Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Security Programme (NSP), at New Delhi-based think tank Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS).
Mitra cautioned that the Biden administration was allowing India-US ties to be “disrupted” because of the
Khalistan issue.
There are widespread concerns in India that the Biden administration is turning a blind eye to activities of people like Pannun, who this month threatened to blow up Air India planes and has incited calls to violence against Indian diplomats in the US and Canada.
“It is not only the Khalistan matter. In the case of Russia, the kind of hostility that Indian encountered from the American establishment in the initial days of Ukraine conflict, from February to July 2022, was intense,” the think-tanker recalled.
New Delhi has strongly pushed back against Biden administration’s criticism of
India-Russia relations and growing energy ties between the two
BRICS partners.
India-US Ties Hit Because of Biden
Mitra blamed incoherence in Biden administration’s policy towards New Delhi to the “various factions” within
the US government as well as in the Democratic Party.
“Nobody in the Biden administration is ready to take a God’s-eye view of the India-US relationship,” he said.
The Indian expert described Biden as an “extremely weak” president.
In recent years, India-US ties have been on upswing as Washington looks to string together a network of allies and partners in Indo-Pacific to contain China. New Delhi, a ‘major defence partner’ of the US, has found a key place in
Washington’s strategy in Indo-Pacific.
Mitra also reckoned that Democratic Party factions were apparently playing up the alleged case against India for their own political ends.
“This case has been lodged in New York, where attorneys make it a point to take up high-profile cases in order to get elected to office. This seems to be a case of miscommunication in the US DOJ, which is hardly surprising,” said Mitra.
Binay Kumar Singh, a strategic affairs expert at New Delhi-based think tank the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, told Sputnik that the US was denting its credibility by
shielding terrorists like Pannun, who has an Interpol 'Red Corner' notice against him.
"Voicing support for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan might not be terrorist for the US. But publicly calling for bombing a passenger plane should be treated as terrorism in every jurisdiction,” he opined.
“I don’t believe that there could be different definitions of terrorism for India and the US, more so since they have in recent years found their views increasingly converging on the issue of terror," Singh stated.
US Accuses India of Orchestrating an Assassination Plot
The comments by experts come against the backdrop of Department of Justice (DoJ) publicising “murder-for-hire” charges against Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta for allegedly participating in a
plot to assassinate Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen.
The US agencies have claimed that Gupta, 52, was being “directed” by an Indian government official from India. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June at the request of the Biden administration, according to DoJ.
The alleged plot was foiled as Gupta hired an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, who was posing as a criminal, to execute the hit-job against Pannun, claim case papers.
India’s
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has constituted a
“high-level enquiry” to probe the American claims.
The MEA has also stated that carrying out assassinations are “contrary” to India’s policy.
