The Indian government has formed a "high-level enquiry committee" to look into allegations pertaining to the "nexus between organised criminals, gun-runners, terrorists and others," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a statement on Wednesday.
Bagchi stated that the enquiry panel was formed on 18 November.
"The Government of India will take necessary follow-up action based on the findings of the Enquiry Committee," the MEA spokesperson added.
On 22 November, British publication Financial Times (FT) reported that back in June the US had "thwarted" an assassination plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen who is a designated terrorist under India's Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The FT reported that the matter was being taken up at the "senior-most level" by the Biden administration. Reportedly, President Joe Biden raised it during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in New Delhi in September.
Pannun is the general counsel of New York-headquartered terrorist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) (banned under India's UAPA), which advocates the creation of a separate Sikh homeland 'Khalistan' from India's Punjab state.
This month, Pannun threatened to blow up Air India flights and has a track record of inciting calls for violence against Indian diplomats in Canada and the US, which is against the Vienna Convention.
India's Response to FT report
Hours after the FT report last week, the MEA said in a statement that "New Delhi took inputs on links between organised criminals, gun-runners, terrorists and others seriously", noting that these directly "impinged" on its national security.
For India's part, foreign minister S. Jaishankar has said that it is not New Delhi's "policy" to indulge in assassinations. The statement was made in context of the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was a designated terrorist in India at the time of his death in June.
Incidently, the US and Canada have been urging New Delhi to cooperate in the assassination probe of Nijjar.
For decades, successive Indian governments have raised concerns about the secessionist activities of pro-Khalistan separatists operating from countries like Canada and the US.
The Indian authorities have accused the western nations of turning a blind eye to their concerns on radical Sikh separatists.
The MEA has pointed out on several occasions in recent months that Indian dossiers pertaining to activities of over 20 designated terrorists handed over to Canadian and other western governments have not been heeded to till date.