Sikh separatists claim that the Indian ‘spy network’ is active in the US and Canada

NEW YORK – Canada and the U.S. should take tougher action against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for trying to silence dissidents on foreign soil, said a controversial Sikh separatist targeted in an alleged Indian-led assassination plot in an interview.

The US Department of Justice has unsealed charges against two Indian nationals in connection with an alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US-Canadian citizen, in New York. The two Indian suspects included an ex-government official who, according to the indictment, worked as an intelligence officer at the time and orchestrated the assassination plan.

Pannun told Reuters earlier this month that the Modi government should not engage in hostile activities abroad and said Indian consulates in the US and Canada were running a “spy network”, although he did not provide any evidence.

The US and Canada “must ensure that regimes like Modi’s are not allowed to come to America or Canada, challenge their sovereignty and get away with it. They must put their foot down and close the consulates.” ) permanently,” he said.

Pannun did not elaborate further on the alleged spy network. Similar claims have been made by Sikh activists in America and Canada.

India’s foreign ministry did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters about Pannun’s allegations. India, where Pannun was born, has labeled him a terrorist since 2020.

Authorities in the US and Canada declined to comment on Pannun’s allegations.

The US and Canada allege that Indian agents were involved in assassination plots in their countries last year against campaigners of ‘Khalistan’, a Sikh homeland they want to erase from the Indian state of Punjab, where Sikh militancy in the 1980s and ninety thousand people lost their lives.

India has denied any involvement in any of the plots.

The allegations have damaged India’s ties with Canada and tested relations between Washington and New Delhi.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the Indian government of involvement in the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist leader in Canada. In May, Canadian police arrested four Indian men and charged them with the murder. They have yet to be tried.

India has said Canada has not provided any evidence to support its accusations and New Delhi and Ottawa each expelled six diplomats earlier this month in a growing diplomatic row.

However, India has said it is investigating the assassination plot against Pannun and US officials have said they want a quick outcome.

Pannun said Vikash Yadav, the former Indian official charged by the US over the alleged attempt on his life, was merely a “middle-class soldier” who was tasked with organizing the killing by senior Indian officials. He did not provide any evidence or say how he came to this conclusion.

New Delhi has said Yadav was no longer a government official, without saying whether he had been an intelligence officer and without indicating when he left. Yadav’s whereabouts are not known, but his family told Reuters earlier this month that he had been in contact and denied the allegations in the US indictment.

Indian security officials have said they fear a surge in support for Khalistan abroad could lead to a revival of militancy that previously paralyzed the state of Punjab, the birthplace of Sikh nationalism, where the movement for a separate homeland is now little receives support.

Pannun, who has held independent referendums on the creation of Khalistan in the US, Canada and Europe, said in the interview that his movement advocates a peaceful resolution of the matter and will continue despite threats to his life. REUTERS