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US Revives Backing for Anti-India Separatists in Bid to Clamp Down on Modi

© AP Photo / Mary AltafferKhalistan Supporters in New York (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Khalistan Supporters in New York (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) - Sputnik India, 1920, 04.04.2024
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Since the 1970s, the US has tacitly supported and facilitated cooperation between Kashmiri and pro-Khalistan separatists, as part of its ‘K2’ strategy, to check India’s influence and make it toe the American line.
There are strong indications that the US has revived its support for pro-Khalistan and Kashmiri separatists in a bid to check the rising domestic and global influence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who looks all set to commence his third term in power in June.
Colonel (retired) Ravi Shekhar Narayan Singh, a former officer with India's spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), told Sputnik India that Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros has been trying to destabilise the Modi government.
Singh describes Soros as an asset of US' 'Deep State', besides being one of the biggest donors of the Democratic Party.

"George Soros, through his proxies in India and around the world, has been trying to destabilise Modi's government. It is an open secret now. But all his attempts, be it by supporting the farmers' agitation or supporting opposition leaders such as Arvind Kejriwal, have failed,'' remarked Singh, pointing towards the previous statements of Soros directed against the Indian Prime Minister.

In 2020, Soros described Modi's election as PM a "frightening setback" and expressed hope for a "democratic revival" in the world's largest democracy.
In the last few weeks, the US State Department has flagged concerns about the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, triggering a strong diplomatic response from New Delhi on both the occasions.
Last week, the US Embassy in India triggered a countrywide backlash for inviting Kashmiri activists to an Iftar gathering in New Delhi.
And, on Sunday, the US allowed another so-called 'pro-Khalistan referendum' to take place in California, the second on American soil this year. At the same time, the US has been seeking to pressure India into prosecuting officials allegedly involved in the assassination plot of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US-based pro-Khalistan movement leader who is designated as a terrorist in India.

"So, Soros is harping back to the old US strategy to propping up Khalistan activism on its soil as well as around the world. At the same time, the US and [its] western allies are also going to increase their interference in the Jammu and Kashmir issue in the coming days during the election," the former Indian intelligence officer noted with concern.

History of US Support for Anti-India Extremists

A research paper by US-based Hudson Institute has documented that at least 15 “joint protests” by Kashmiri and pro-Khalistan separatists had taken place in major American and European cities since 2019.

Explaining the genesis of the 'K2' strategy, Singh explained that pro-Khalistan activists and Kashmiri separatists have always been the "vectors" of America to achieve its foreign policy goals vis-a-vis India.

"Not only Pakistan, but the US was also badly humiliated by the defeat in the 1971 Bangladesh War of Liberation. It was after that the Khalistan movement, with support from the US, started to gain ground, peaking 13 years later with the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi," the former RAW officer said.

"Many in the US as well as the western world don't want a powerful Prime Minister like Modi helming India. The same was the case with Indira Gandhi (assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984 for cracking down on activities of pro-Khalistan terrorists)," stated Singh.

Singh recalled that the US has played a key role in facilitating cooperation between pro-Khalistani activists and Kashmiri separatists.
In fact, in 1985, India's then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi aborted his visit to the US after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) thwarted an assassination plot against him by US-based Khalistan operatives.
As documented by Disinfo Lab, a digital firm working in the domain of information warfare, the assassins behind the plot were trained in the US by an FBI informant.

US Efforts Directed at 'Regime Change' in India: Counter-Terrorism Expert

Brigadier (retired) V Mahalingam, an Army veteran who has served as a commander at India's elite counter-terror force National Security Guard (NSG), told Sputnik India that America's support for pro-Khalistan and Kashmiri activists could be meant to effect a "regime change" in India.

"Wanting to create disturbances within a country and force the country’s leadership to tow its line using terror groups as its proxy is a well-known and documented history of US’ foreign policy methods. It appears that the US is cozying up with Khalistan and Kashmiri dissidents to cause disturbances and acts of terrorism in India using these groups," stated Mahalingam.

He stated that all the US actions in recent weeks indicate a desire to subjugate India so that it toes its line on China and Russia.

"But India is too big a country... for the US to subjugate the country. Let it be clear, with Modi in power, the people of India will not allow that to happen,” the Brigadier concluded.

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