India has strongly rejected an American news report claiming that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had dispatched a “secret memo” to its consulates in North America back in April, advising to launch a “sophisticated crackdown” on Sikh separatists.
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi described the news report as “fake and completely fabricated”.
“There is no such memo,” Bagchi said in a late evening statement on Sunday.
The Indian official asserted the news report was part of a “sustained disinformation campaign” against India.
Bagchi warned that those who "amplify such fake news only do so at the cost of their own credibility."
What Does the Memo Allege?
The memo in question lists the names of Sikh separatists including Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead by unidentified men at a Vancouver suburb in June.
The memo also reportedly calls out radical Sikh organisations such as proscribed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) for being involved in "anti-India propaganda" and acts of “arson and vandalisation” against Indian interests in North America.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has linked Nijjar's killing to the "agents" of the Indian government. New Delhi has denied the charges as "absurd" and has urged Ottawa to share proof to back the charges.
Last month, a US Department of Justice (DOJ) also unsealed an indictment alleging that an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, had been "directed" by an Indian official to take out SFJ counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a designated terrorist in India.
New Delhi has constituted a "high-level" probe to look into the American claims.